UnFAYZed
by Clovers-Charm
Summary: Two years after the FAYZ ended Caine showed up out of nowhere. It seems like they might get a real second chance, but with a pesky FAYZ hating cop sniffing around and monstrous creatures with familiar powers attacking normal humans it seems the FAYZ isn't over just yet. Spoilers for Light.
1. Chapter 1

**Okay, this is my new story based after Light. I know roughly where I want this to go but not completely. So if you do have mini plot stories you might think would be a good idea then please tell me in a review or if you want to create a villianess OC then please send me a PM! But they probably won't have a huge role.**

**Title: Unknown (Ideas for this are also welcomed).**  
**Summary: Almost Two Years after the escape from the FAYZ... Almost two years since their friends were killed. Almost two years since they have been able to relax without pain and misery and mutants creeping around the corner. And then, when they thought there was no more weirdness... Caine Soren shows up. Only his mind doesn't seem to be completely in tact really, he zones out and sometimes when he speaks he doesn't sound like himself. And to make matters worse, creatures with familiar mutant powers are showing up too. It's just like the FAYZ, only this isn't the FAYZ and with adults around, what are the FAYZ survivors supposed to do to help? **

* * *

Two years had passed since the FAYZ walls had finally come down. The walls had dropped and vanished, along with their powers and all the other mutations that happened during the time. After that everyone had been free, even when Sam had almost been charged with the murders of the children who died during the FAYZ, they had somehow managed to stop that because of a single letter written by Caine that was read out loud to the whole world on a radio station. After that most people returned to normal lives as best as they could. There were three suicides after the FAYZ and countless of people had moved to various places, most of them just needing to move away from Perdido Beach where it had all happened and while others just felt that a change of scenery would help them move on from what happened to them and their families. It did help some, others not so much. Some kept moving in an attempt to try and make things better and others just gave up and suffered either in silence or loudly to their loved ones. There was at least one confirmed case where a man had been arrested after getting his five year old daughter back because he had hit both her and his wife when they would not stop talking about what happened to the young girl and he clearly could not deal with it anymore. It was almost funny how normal this was becoming as the years passed. It seemed that the children that had suffered and gone through the terror of the FAYZ and had fought and somehow survived despite friends and family dying were dealing with the whole situation better than their parents, who even when they saw it with their own eyes, couldn't or refused to believe in their powers or mutations. Even now when they walked down the streets people recognised them from TV. They were stopped and called heroes or freaks. They were shouted at, called questions or laughed at like it was one big joke. It was incredible how, after everything they had been through, people could still laugh at them or make fun of them after everything they had suffered, after the people that had died. People actually made fun of those that had died. Duck was a constant joke. Caine was a villain. If someone was overly religious they were now referred to as a Brittany. And the names and laughs went on and on...

But two years had passed and people were surviving at least, and that had been the whole goal for the children of the FAYZ in the first place. To survive. They had fought through when their families had first disappeared and struggled against the first major fight against Caine that included the Coyotes. They had struggled through starvation and darkness when Caine had taken away their light and they had to use Sammy Suns. They had defended against Nerezza and her lies and then avoided death and pain when Zil had gone crazy and set half the town on fire in his attempt to fight freaks (somehow in the idea he seemed to lose track of what he was doing because the fires he started killed more normal people than moofs). This, of course, had been one big set up for Caine... Who really did seem to always be in the middle of their struggle and pain for survival. Then they had lived through the sickness that took other lives and ran away just long enough to avoid the bugs infestation before they had a chance to kill them (which was weird because Caine didn't cause either and in fact he helped save them...). They had made it through Penny's terror even when she had Caine prisoner, and they had survived their encounter with the evil Gaia for the first time, not to mention Drake who had also been a terrifying pain from day one. And then they had somehow avoided being killed again by Gaia, who had been the cause of slaughter for most of their friends and family. They had made it all the way through right until the very end when they were finally free.

That was part of what made this whole next part so unfair. They had beat all the odds and made it through the sick game still referred to as The FAYZ. So why was it not the end? Why was weird and horrible things still drawing them back into a horrible world of death and darkness? Why could they not have their happily ever after ending? Because... A new FAYZ is always waiting around the corner. And that was exactly what happened when Caine Soren, one of the many killed before the wall came down, appeared out of nowhere... very much alive.

* * *

Astrid was strolling through the park like she did on most Tuesday afternoons. It was a beautiful warm day, the sun was shinning with only a few clouds in the sky and even then they were crystal white and barely moving at all against the bright blue of the sky above her head. The park itself was nothing special. It was quite small actually, only a few trees that surrounded it and made a sort of make shift wall against the road, houses and iron gates outside, a small field in the middle for kids to throw soft balls at one another and another section of grass that also had three picnic tables or stretches of plain grass for blankets to be laid down upon. The pathway was just a shaved piece of dirt and pebble road that went from the left open gates, around the sections of grass in circles and out the right gates smoothly. The grass itself was freshly cut, and it was the perfect time where no leaves cluttered the ground and were instead where they should be, on the trees. It was a simple area apart from one thing that made it stand out more than anything and that was the fountain that was quite small and in the very middle in between the three picnic baskets. It was small, round, one tiny fountain that came up in icy cold water and fell down again before going all around again and sometimes little kids were allowed to splash each other on a hot day. It was simple but beautifully perfect in the same way.

That was one of the main reasons Astrid walked there every Tuesday but there were other reasons too. She went at a certain time of day because it meant no little kids were there because they were at school and the adults were either at work or tidying their homes for when family came back but also because it meant no one was home so she might as well do something with her alone time rather than sitting around the apartment. And the third was because she liked it no matter what weather because it gave her a chance to work on her book.

Ever since their escape from the FAYZ, Astrid had planned to write a book about everyone's time and struggle in the FAYZ and she had been working on it for the passed two years, not even near completion. It was a lot of work that involved a lot of calling people and asking for events and feelings, times and dates and not everyone was willing to give her the information but she gave them her number just in case they had a change of heart and wanted their story to be heard. A few people cooperated and helped her out and she had a basic plan for the very first two events that happened to them all. But that still wasn't very far considering how much time had passed. But then again she was having trouble getting the answers, and then there was the fact that the book was not all her time. She was still taking college classes online since she had left school and she mostly took care of the house while Diana and Sam both had jobs (Diana was working at a run down café where she could hide from too many people and Sam was working his dream job at the nearest beach, renting equipment's out to tourists).

The park was one of the best places to work because she took a small recorder in her bag that she spoke into when she had ideas how to phrase something or when she forgot something and remembered it while she was out and about. The park was the best way to clear her mind and think of these things with clear air and a bright atmosphere. So she went down every week just to make sure she had it. She wanted to make sure she had every detail and everything in this book was perfect. It _needed _to be perfect.

Astrid wandered down through the path and followed it twice around the small ball area before she walked long towards the picnic tables and wound twice around there, just walking slowly around in a circle. There were only two people in the park that day, a mother and her baby girl that were sitting by the fountain, drinking juice drinks and gently splashing the water while the mother talked on her phone and the baby eyed a butterfly. Neither paid Astrid any attention and she allowed her walk to slow down slightly before moving around once more and walking back again, searching for her usual spot under the trees were she could sit and make a few more phone calls to FAYZ survivors to see if anyone was going to talk to her. It was nice to walk without being stared at or whispered about obnoxiously loud.

Of all the people they had known, Astrid, Sam and Diana were only in contact with a few of them. Dekka who they called every now and then but who lived too far away for them to visit more than twice a year and that was when they had a good year. Edilio and his family lived closer than expected and so they were able to stay closer than they realised and because they could stay close with Edilio then they could stay close with Roger who Astrid was getting to know better and getting to like better. They hadn't seen Lana since the end of the FAYZ and Astrid was almost too nervous to call her and ask for a recount of what happened to her so she was saving her for last. Quinn was another quite close person but still they only saw him every now and then when they were all free. And the only other person they saw was Cookie, or Tony or whatever he was going by now that the FAYZ had ended. Astrid had almost forgotten to him by the end of the FAYZ but then they had seen him and his family moving in just down the street to where Astrid now lived. They hadn't spoken much at first but then Astrid contacted him and Cookie was one of the few people that was eager to step forward and tell his side, especially how amazing a hero Lana was and how she had saved him from terrible pain when Caine had dropped the cross on him and crushed his shoulder. Now they talked quite a lot on the phone or on the computer or even in the streets when passing one another.

Astrid finally found her spot and settled down, leaning against the largest tree that cast the greatest shadow over her when under it. Gently she brushed some of her blonde hair behind her ear, but she had cut it quite short and so it quickly blew free and continued to hang around her chin with a slight lean in her fringe. When she was sat on the surprisingly dry but soft earth, she set her white shoulder bag on the ground by her side and opened it up, pulling out an address book and a cell phone. She opened it in her lap and thumbed through to the book marked page. It was a lot of effort just getting names and contact details let alone information from them. But she was gradually making the list longer which both was good for information but bad because it seemed never ending.

She found the name marked for her next caller. She tried to call at least one page of people a day just to give herself a goal. The next person was Ashley Whittlesey. She would be seven years old now but had spent a good three years under Mary's care before she had taken the jump and then she remained under John's care instead. Ashley had been there when the coyotes attacked but after that she had mostly avoided any real dangers right until the very end when her two friends had been killed at the lake by Gaia. She had been a wonderfully brave girl, not getting into fights but helping John take care of some of the younger ones just by being his little helper. All Astrid needed was her feelings and anything she remembered about the time she was attacked. If it was too much Astrid wasn't going to force her. Astrid didn't force anyone to talk if they didn't want to. She didn't care how authentic she wanted the book to be, she wasn't going to hurt anyone to do it but she still wanted information. She had to made the right balance of pressing and patients.

The phone rang just three times in her ear before a man answered on the other end. "Hello?"

He sounded so strong, so normal and relaxed... For a moment Astrid considered that he might be dealing well enough to hear the truth but then she remembered a boy named Arran Garra's mother had sounded normal. The next thing Astrid knew she was being screamed and cursed at over the phone before being hung up on.

"Um... Hello... Is Ashley there?" Astrid asked, half-knowing/guessing the girl wouldn't be. She would in school if her parent's weren't tutoring her like a lot of parents were.

"Yes, is this a friend?" The man asked calmly, surprising Astrid. Maybe she was being home schooled... Or at least she was sick.

"Um, yes, an old friend." Astrid said. Not a real lie... But not a truth either.

"One moment." The man said and a few minutes later a high pitched girl's voice was on the other end.

Her voice sounded so bright and bubbly. Astrid's stomach clenched, no matter how many calls it always did when she heard a happy voice and it did the same when she heard a haunted voice.

"Hello? Who is it?" Ashley asked.

"... Ashley... This... This is Astrid Ellison. We were in the FAYZ together. Look I know this may be hard but I am writing a book on what happened to try and help people understand and to get everyone's point of views in the best way I can. I was wondering if I could ask you a few questions." Astrid said in a rush, almost in one breath, before Ashley could hang up like many other people had done before her when she so much as mentioned her name.

The other line was silent for a moment. Astrid listened closely in case she heard something but it was pure silence that lasted for a long minute. Finally...

"I... I don't really think I can talk right now." Ashley squeaked. The bubble in her voice disappeared and now there was that haunted sound.

"That's okay!" Astrid said quickly. She hadn't yet hung up so she was clinging on. "But if I give you my number then will you call me back? Please?"

More silence. Then... "Okay."

"Great!" Astrid beamed. "Just call me when you are ready, okay?" Astrid beamed and recited her mobile number. As soon as Ashley said she had it, Astrid wished her a good day and said goodbye, hanging up.

She took a breath to calm her tense nerves. It was always so hard and she always needed to just relax afterwards before she made anymore calls. So many times she had abuse over the phone from people who didn't want to talk and even when she didn't push it, it was like they needed to just scream to someone about things that had been building up and she was the only person they could scream at. So Astrid, knowing how much it helped to just let it out, let them scream at her. Even when it left her with tears in her eyes she managed to make it through the day because she knew that them shouting at her still helped them.

Ten minutes and two phone calls later (another Pre-Schooler who's parents hung up as soon as she gave them her name and another who she gave her number to because she was a year younger than Astrid and was going out with friends at that moment in time) Astrid hadn't done much that day and she only had a few names per page. She had gotten a name and phone number from the girl a year bellow her though so at least she had gotten something out of the calls. By the third call Astrid was already growing weary like she normally did when she didn't get anywhere in her lists but kept it up. This time she was calling someone in her year, a boy named Allen Boss. He had been two a local bully. He was small time though, catching people early before he hid and avoided real bullies like Orc and Cookie. But he had still be a pain in the ass, a lot of people had found a reason to dislike him strongly before he had entered the FAYZ and had to take responsibility of taking care of his younger sister and three younger cousins. From there he had been a half decent guy and even took a few shifts helping Mary and John take care of the little kids and encouraging his cousins to help too.

"Hello, Allen? This is Astrid Ellison. We were in the FAYZ together and I-" She spoke without a breath to catch him off guard but he was ready somehow and interrupted sharply.

"No."

"Wait, please, you don't know what I want!" Astrid begged.

"Everyone knows what you want!" Allen snapped. "We have all heard about you writing that stupid fucking book and I don't give a shit! I ain't talking to you!"

"Don't you want the world to know your side?" Astrid demanded.

"What side? The side where I saw Garry starve to death because he was secretly giving all his food to his Picket? Or the side where Susie lost her leg to a coyote and the other to that monster baby? The side where Picket was beaten by strangers because all he could do was freeze the tips of his fingernails? I watched my family fall apart and I am sorry if I don't want to share this with you so the rest of the world can laugh at us!" Allen snapped but still did not hang up.

"So tell the world the truth. Tell the world what happened to you and how you struggled and the pain." Astrid sighed. "I lost friends, I lost my brother and I lost my faith. And now I am getting my side told before anyone else can make me look bad with a lie."

That seemed to mostly sway him over. Allen used to be a bully and so a lot of people had a grudge against him and if they wanted to blame someone then they might try and blame him. The last thing he or anyone else wanted was to be made to look bad either with a half lie or a half truth. Finally he seemed resigned to giving her a quick interview with under twenty one questions and she wasn't allowed to speak to Susie or Picket or Frankie. Astrid wished she could have spoken to the younger ones but she didn't press for it.

Just as Astrid pulled out a tape recorder and got ready to put her phone on loud she saw something that made her pause. It was the bush barely two feet away from her. The bush looked quite normal but at the same time Astrid had a quite bad feeling about the bush and the shape of it. It was a strange intuition that she had gotten only a few rare times in the FAYZ. It was normally when something or someone was coming up behind her and she managed to duck or hide out of the way just in time to avoid a deathly or painful blow. Mostly it was saved for life and death situations and maybe that was why her heart stopped in her chest just for a few seconds before her eyes found exactly what she was looking for. There weren't many bushes in the park but the ones that were there were thick and tall and made it impossible for anyone to hider under because they were just that clumped together so tightly. But the one Astrid was sitting opposite to seemed thinner somehow and looked different, it was like something was trying to force it's way through and sure enough there was an... elbow? Poking through?

"Hello?" Allen's voice came from the cell but Astrid found her eyes drawn to the elbow and she was no longer listening.

Slowly Astrid moved onto her hands and knees, her bag, notebook, tape recorder and phone all fell to the floor when she moved but she didn't bother with any of it as she slowly moved forwards towards the bush. She didn't even care when her new blue jeans got clots of mud stuck to the knee area and moved until she was right in front of the bush, she reached with both hands and grabbed the bush, trying to move it but it was still thick and solid in her grip. When she knew she couldn't open it to look through she tried to search a different way. Slowly she moved around, ignoring Allen who still called for her from his phone and glanced around the bush at the shape that was lying behind of it.

For a moment she was just shocked by what she had seen. She couldn't bring herself to move, her eyes stuck as she tried to make sense of what she was seeing and even then her throat was tight with confusion so she couldn't speak anyway. The silence was only for a second but then a scream came out before she had a chance to stop herself and she was falling back in confusion more than anything. Her hand covered her mouth and she was shaking as she slowly climbed back onto her knees again.

"Excuse me?!"

Astrid looked to see the mother in the park was slowly wandering over with her baby on her hip, looking worried and unsure. She seemed unsure on whether to rush over or forget it.

"Are you alright?" The woman called over, taking one more step before stalling again.

"Yes!" Astrid gasped, standing. Then she brushed her knees down and smiled as best as she could while her stomach shivered insider her skin. "Yes, I am so. Sorry... I saw... I saw a spider... It frightened me." She gave a nervous laugh. "Sorry I disturbed you."

"You gave me a heart attack, sweetheart." The woman laughed along. She seemed to relax now. "Be careful from now on, okay? Best sit on the benches than in the grass. They clean them constantly free of bugs. Okay?"

"Yeah, I will. Just going to collect my things now." Astrid lied with a false smile.

Astrid watched the woman smile and return to her own table where it seemed she was just packing away. That worked perfectly. Astrid crouched down and purposely began to gather her things, stuffing them back in her bag and zipping it up before she remembered Allen was still on the line. She spent another ten minutes searching for her phone before she realised she was standing on it and quickly put it to her ear.

"Allen? Sorry. Sorry. I. Something came up. I'm going to need to call you back." Astrid said in a rush. "Sorry, I do want to talk but... But something happened."

She hung up before he could reply and stuffed that in her bag along with everything else. Then she checked just as the woman left the park with her baby, walking out the gates and out of sight. Then Astrid moved back to the bush and looked down but the shape had not yet disappeared like she expected(/hoped). After a moment of confusion and hesitation, Astrid reached back into her bag and pulled out her phone for a second time. For a minute she was at a loss on who to call. Sam was at work and work was way too far away for him to rush over and help her. Diana should either be at work or getting ready to leave but her boss was a cranky old guy that never let her leave early even for emergencies. Quinn? No he'd be in his college classes. Cookie? This wasn't his type of thing and she honestly didn't trust him with this type of thing. Dekka? Too far away? Edilio? Maybe.

Barely two minutes later Astrid was hanging up once again. Edilio's mum had answered and said Edilio was out on a date with Roger and wouldn't be back until later and he didn't actually have a phone of his own and Astrid didn't know Roger's number to call him. She nearly threw the phone but forced herself to calm down and then turned to the small booklet in her lap. She flicked through and glanced at some of the addresses she had along with the names of people and numbers and suddenly found herself stopping on a name of a person she had never spoken to.

"Hello? This is Astrid Ellison. I need your help. I really need your help here and I know we haven't spoken before, in fact we know nothing about one another, but there is no one else out there and Sam says you're trusting so please. I am trusting you to just... Please can you come to Daster Park soon? Please... Oh... And bring some clothes for a guy about fifteen years old. I'll explain when you get here." She hung up without an answer and prayed they would come.

When she had hung up, Astrid moved up around the bush and crouched back down again on her knees on the soft ground. Her hands were shaking but she ignored the feeling and reached over, very gently touching the forehead and brushing some of the hair away of Caine Soren as he lay naked on the grass, seemingly unharmed and unconscious.

Yeah. A new FAYZ was already starting. This time in the real world.

* * *

**I like to do this thing where I ask questions of the people who read my stories. Because this is a Light Fanfiction I will be asking spoiler questions. Okay?**

**1) Who do you think Astrid is calling?**

**2) Who died in Light that you wished had survived?**

**3) Who Survived in Light that you wished had died? **


	2. Chapter 2

**So thank you to those who reviewed the very first chapter. **

* * *

They had been famous. They had been on television, on radio, news channels and stars, people interviewed them and everyone fawned over them for months on end. They had become the centre of attention without even actually doing anything. And they had loved it too. They weren't the kind of girls to run around, showing off to everyone else and wanting to get attention from them but this was the first time they had gotten attention of this kind without having to do anything for it. And they didn't have to act, they just had to tell everyone what they had seen while they were in the FAYZ and shortly after telling their story a few dozen times, they were allowed to go home again because they didn't have anything new. Just as they were growing bored of everyone asking them questions, they were old news and they had no more stories to tell. After that they had gone back with family, stayed at an uncles for a few days and just listened for the rest of the stories. They expected their friends to all follow them out soon because why would you stay when your mother called for you to escape and go home. But as time passed no one came with them. Sam's birthday was first and he stayed and they had no reason or any answer as to why or how because they couldn't see in through the wall.

And then the unthinkable happened. Francis came first, but it was Mother Mary who caught them off guard. She was all over the television and when she first saw them Emma screamed loud enough to shake the house down. Francis was in the same state and they were both rushed to the hospital where they both died before their parents even got a chance to see them one last time. No one understood. Emma and Anna had come out fine but anyone else who came seemed to look as if they had spent a round in the shredder/fire. Suddenly the girls didn't want anyone else to come out because they had no idea what effect would happen upon them. Would they come out fine or would they be malformed and disfigured like Mother Mary and Francis?

And then the wall came down. It became see through at one point but the twins had avoided the television since Mother Mary came out, and even when it did become visible and they checked up on those inside, they saw horror behind the walls. The people inside had been starved. Over half the children had died somehow, mutants were alive and there was a monstrous girl that Sam Temple had nearly burned alive with some weird power he had. And the twins didn't know what to think or what to say. They had been brought back a few times after that, asked more questions but they had no answers. They didn't know who or how people could do these incredible things, they didn't know anything about Drake gaining a whip hand and going crazy, or the evil baby, or the pain Caine caused the town. They didn't know anything and yet people still told them off and argued with them that they had to know something but they didn't. It only stopped when Emma started crying. Then their parents stepped in and rushed them away. And then the wall came down and Emma and Anna were quickly forgotten as everyone else became the centre of attention. From then on they paid attention and listened as Sam was nearly charged before Caine seemed to confess in a letter and then everyone was allowed to go free.

Emma and Anna didn't get in contact with anyone who came out of the FAYZ. It seemed almost wrong to try when they had gotten out fine while others had died either in or when they had come out. And no one tried to speak to them so they just let it go and moved on with their lives. They moved in down the street of their uncle and got their own house, settled down and lived life as best as they could, returning to school before they left after graduating and began to get part time jobs in whatever they could. They were a few of the lucky ones.

But then the strangest thing happened to Anna. She got a call from Astrid the Genius, a girl she hadn't even thought about, let alone spoken to.

The twins had been eating an early breakfast before Emma had to hurry to catch the bus in order to get to her music college classes. Anna had been left alone as she took slow sips of tea in front of the television. She had gone to the same college course as Emma once but she had quickly grown bored of playing the piano and just wasn't interested in playing any instruments at all let alone learning music notes or pitches. She had considered joining another course like that, maybe an English course or a business course, but they didn't interest her either. In the end Anna took day care courses on Monday's and Friday's only. She loved taking care of kids, she knew that since she helped Mother Mary with the little Pree's. But on the rest of her days she either stayed off or she had a flyer in a local shop renting our her assistants to anyone who might need a cleaner, babysitter or gardener. It kept money in her pocket and she didn't have to work all the time.

Halfway through a new television show Anna's private phone rang loudly from her jacket pocket hanging on the coat hook. She quickly hurried to answer in case it was a job but was surprised instead when she heard a unfamiliar voice of a person she barely knew. And even then, the part that she knew only knew her as The Genius.

"Hello? This is Astrid Ellison. I need your help. I really need your help here and I know we haven't spoken before, in fact we know nothing about one another, but there is no one else out there and Sam says you're trusting so please. I am trusting you to just... Please can you come to Daster Park soon? Please... Oh... And bring some clothes for a guy about fifteen years old. I'll explain when you get here." The dial tone.

"What the hell?!" Anna blinked, staring at her phone. Astrid the Genius called her out of nowhere to ask for help, only to demand it more than ask and then hang up before she could say whether or not she was busy! Anna never knew much about Astrid but she didn't think she was that big headed. Maybe time had changed her, or maybe Anna really didn't know her.

Then, as she sat down and continued to stare at her phone, Anna wondered what on Earth she could be asking her out for. Wait, why her? Was Astrid that lonely that she didn't have any other friends or people to ask to help her. And what was that about Sam? Sam said Anna was trusting and so Astrid was trusting her? But then wait a second, how did Astrid get her number? And how did she know Anna lived anywhere near Daster Park? Was she a spy or something? Anna was so confused as to why Astrid was speaking to her and how she knew all this information that she spent a few minutes trying to work it all out but her head just ached afterwards.

Anna sat debating for almost half an hour, purely staring at the phone and trying to work everything out in her mind. In the end it was too much, she was too curious and at the same time the guilt for getting out perfectly fine while they all suffered was still fresh in her mind. What was the worst that could happen? Astrid was Genius. Not a trouble maker.

After a quick change of clothes into something less nighty and more summery, in other words a plain white skirt and a plain light orange blouse with white sandals, Anna was about to leave the house when she remembered the second part of the message. Astrid wanted her to bring clothes? Male clothes? For a fifteen year old? Anna paused and frowned once again in confusion. Should she really be doing all this when she wasn't even sure what this was all about in the first place? But then she was curious and guilty and mostly curious. So she ran back upstairs and slipped into her parents room. Anna didn't know any more fifteen year olds, at least not any who she knew well enough that they would lend her clothes so Astrid would just have to settle for a set of over grown male clothes. Anna grabbed her light green backpack and shoved a large white t-shirt in with a pair of dark blue shots. After a moment's hesitation she grabbed a pair of her own trainers that were slightly small for her, hopefully they would be big enough for a fifteen year old even if they did have pink on the soles.

Finally she left the house and stepped into her front garden, grabbing her bike from the side and pulling it out into the streets. In just a few more weeks Anna would be going for her drivers licence and she wouldn't have to peddle around all the time. Emma would be taking it the same day as her and they hoped they would pass together too because as soon as both of them had their licence, their parents promised to get them a car to share for when they needed it.

For now she had to settle though, as she climbed on the bike Anna moved quickly down the road, making sure to keep on the road or the specific bike paths so no police stopped to lecture her. It only took her a few minutes if she rushed but Anna was determined not to rush for Astrid's sake. And the gentle ride was better for her legs anyway, not to mention she did enjoy the wind when it combed it's way through her creamy brown hair. Then she remembered she forgot to brush her hair! Anna cursed and slowed down to a stop. She reached up and pulled it down from it's pony tail, combing her fingers through it a few times before she put it back up again. Almost immediately her fringe sprung free and hung over her forehead while the rest hung behind her head. It was still a mess and she actually debating turning back to get ready properly. Whatever Astrid wanted, surely it could wait just a few... No. Anna wasn't a primpy pressy girl. She didn't fuss over her looks and she wasn't going to ride all the way home to come all the way back for a few tangles and split ends, especially when the only person she was meeting was Astrid... And a fifteen year old boy but that wasn't much better a reason.

The rest of the ride down to the park passed with only the wind wiping sweat from her forehead. Why Daster Park? It was a small plain park with hardly any picnic area, a small sport area and a tiny fountain. It was in the middle of a busy area and so the traffic was loud during rush hour and it was generally the worst park you could go to. There were much better parks, bigger lakes, bigger grass area, quieter. Anna rolled her eyes as she slowly began to slow the bike down when she saw the iron gates of the park. Even the gates looked rusted and old, easily broken and the lock itself had been gone for years now.

Anna stopped the bike completely and climbed off, she walked over and chained it to the bike area. She supposed that was one thing about the park that wasn't too bad, it was so run down and unused that no one even went there to steal bikes or balls. Rubbing her shoulders where her backpack straps had dug into her shoulders on the ride over, Anna walked through into the gates and came to an almost immediate stop. The park was so small just by standing in the gates she could see all the sections and the other end of the gates too, but standing there she couldn't see Astrid anywhere. She might have considered not recognising her but there really was no one at all in the park that day, it was deserted with only the fountain running and the gentle sounds of cars behind of her.

"... Uh..." Anna said slowly, suddenly self-conscious. Maybe she should just leave. "Hello? Astrid The Genius?"

"Anna?" Astrid's head appeared from the woods. She didn't look too different. Her blonde hair was still bright though it was cut shorter than Anna's own hair. She had the same pretty face and the same pink lips and bright eyes but now Anna could see a hint of make up, bright pink lip gloss and a hint of blue eye shadow. She was dressed in a simple white summer dress with dark blue, almost black, strange flowers that covered it, a dark blue sash around the waist that was tied to the side, and a set of white soft sneakers on her feet, white and blue like her dress.

"Uh hi." Anna said slowly. She walked over and came to a stop in front of her. She reached up and grabbed her backpack straps just for something to hold onto so her hands wouldn't fiddle.

"Hey." It was then Anna saw her face. She was flushed in the cheeks, her eyes wider than normal and she looked almost haunted.

Instantly Anna felt bad once more. Clearly the effects of the FAYZ were still filling her mind and she needed someone to be here for her. Anna couldn't imagine what it must have been like and she wished she could comfort her in some way, maybe a hug or even just a pat on the shoulder. Carefully, like she was afraid she might startle her, Anna reached over and placed it on her shoulder, giving her a small smile. Maybe this was why Astrid had called her. Because she didn't want to admit defeat to Sam or anyone else who had been in the FAYZ and instead just needed someone who didn't understand so she could talk to them about everything. Well, Anna would help her. At least as much as she could.

"Look, I am sorry for demanding you here. You have no idea how relieved I am you came." Astrid almost begged.

"That's fine." Anna shrugged. She wasn't sure how to talk. Babies and kids were easier, but Astrid was her age. If not Astrid was mentally older considering her brains and her experience in the FAYZ as one of the oldest people there. Maybe she should just talk to her like she was Emma. But they had a different relationship and that would come off weird if she spoke to her like her sister. Maybe her friend, Melissa. Melissa was a good friend and she was smart... "Look, do you want to sit down so we can talk?" Then a thought occurred. "Wait a minute. Why did you want me to bring these clothes for? Did you want them for... Sam?" But Sam wasn't fifteen, Anna thought.

"No. No. I mean... Look you know all about what happened in the FAYZ, right?" Astrid asked, her eyes suddenly glassy like she might cry. Her lips shivered and Anna took a step back, worried she was going to start screaming and sobbing in her face.

"Yeah." Anna nodded, shrugging her shoulders. "I heard about most of it, I mean. You know, on TV and in the newspapers."

"So you heard about Caine?" Astrid pressed, stepping right up to her again.

The closeness made Anna uncomfortable and she took a tiny step back. "That he went crazy and turned from the saviour into the evil king devil himself? Yeah. It's still pretty hard to believe considering how great he had been when he first showed up. But then... Well then I heard about the big fight and I really am sorry for it all."

"Not that part!" Astrid suddenly snapped and Anna took another sharp step away again. "The last part. The part about his death! How he died!"

Anna really wasn't liking Astrid much. "Yes I know!" She snapped and blushed, trying to stay calm. It wasn't Astrid's fault. she was traumatised. "He-He-He done something! He killed himself to save everyone! He wanted redemption and he... And he wanted to save Diana or something. He let someone take him over and killed that evil baby thing." Anna blinked. "That's all I remember."

"That's right!" Astrid said, voice shrill. She shut her eyes and seemed to take a breath to calm herself down before she continued. "He died. He sacrificed himself and we all got out because of it."

She fell silent and Anna was left staring at her. Astrid lifted her head and stared at her, eyes still hauntingly wide, if not wider than when Anna had first started talking to her. Her lips shook and she clenched her hands together in front of her before she began to tug at her dress and hair like she was trying to sort herself out. But even standing there Anna could see her brain was ticking furiously in her skull. Anna waited for her. She wanted to press for answers but Astrid was seriously upset and Anna was admittedly afraid of upsetting her any further.

Then Astrid stepped right up to her again, and before Anna could step away Astrid was grabbing her hands and holding them tightly in between her own. Anna stared at her, wishing she hadn't come along and still wondering why exactly Astrid needed her here, let alone why she needed those clothes or why she had called Anna in the first place. She clearly needed a real friend, someone who understood what had happened and what Caine had done or been like.

"Anna... Promise me I can trust you." Astrid said slowly. "I am going to show and tell you some things and I need to know that you won't go running and telling anyone else."

Anna stared at her. Oh God, what was it Astrid didn't want people to know? Was it something serious? Something dangerous? But it had to be related to Caine. What could be related to Caine, who was now dead, that would need clothes for a fifteen year old guy, and that would be so serious or dangerous that Anna couldn't tell anyone, not to mention leaving Astrid in a complete state. Suddenly Anna didn't want to be there anymore.

"ANNA!" Astrid snapped, shaking her hard and snapping her attention back. "Please! I need you're help! There's no one that can help me right now!"

Not sure whether or not she was making a mistake, Anna slowly nodded her head. "Okay, you can trust me. I won't tell anyone anything, I promise."

"Thank you, okay." Astrid said slowly. "I really need help. Sam and Diana are working and everyone else is either in college, school or just out too busy for me to call them. And I'm trying to work out what happened and why but it isn't making any sense."

"Astrid," Anna interrupted. "Why don't you show me exactly what I shouldn't be telling anyone?"

Astrid swallowed hard and nodded. Taking Anna's hand and pulling her along she took her down towards the area where she had been when Anna had first arrived. Anna didn't fancy holding her hand, or walking into the trees with her when she was clearly lost in her thoughts and slightly out of it. But she didn't pull away either. Instead she kept up and glanced around the area, still trying to think what, why, when and how?!

"What is it?" Anna asked as they came to a stop.

Astrid hesitated and glanced out like she was checking that no one was in the park watching them. Then she moved around a thick bush and crouched down, seeming to be looking at something on the ground at her feet. Anna bit down on her lower lip before she walked around and followed Astrid to stare down at... A naked boy?!

"Oh my gosh!" Anna shrieked and jumped back a step.

The boy was handsome, that was obvious, he had dark brown hair that fell in waves around his head, perfectly healthy with peachy skinned and a slight healthy tan. He was completely naked, not especially muscular but still not flabby or anything terrible. The boy lay awkwardly, on his back but tilted to the side and his right arm was hooked into the bush, sticking through so it was mostly covered by the leaves and his legs lay cross over while his other arm slung to the side with his palm facing upwards. Even though he was lying in the dirt he was perfectly clean and perfectly healthy and there didn't seem to be any bruises or wounds on his head that would cause him to be unconscious. It was almost like he had thrown himself down and fallen asleep. And... Oh God it was Caine!

Well that certainly explained a lot.

"Caine?" Anna blinked. "Caine? But... You said he died!"

"He did die!" Astrid snapped. Suddenly she looked so much more calmly and contained now that Anna was the one freaking out. It was like she needed to be more in control than others.

"Then how is he lying here?!" Anna's own voice had risen to a shriek. "Is this a joke?!" She turned on Astrid. "Are you messing with me? Man, what a bitchy thing to do!"

"I am not messing with you! How exactly could I be messing with you? You think I got a guy who looked just like Caine, stripped him down and convinced him to just lie on the ground while we waited for you to show up!" Astrid snapped. "I asked for your help! So just help me out here! You brought clothes, right?"

Anna glared at her for a moment before she looked down at Caine. He was still naked on the ground and she felt ridiculously awkward staring down at his body. Looking back at Astrid she still glared but then reached up and brought her backpack around, opening it and dumping the clothes down on the floor at Astrid's feet. Then she pulled the backpack back on her shoulders and stood with her arms crossed, scowling as Astrid sorted through the clothes.

"They're the only clothes I could get. I don't have many fifteen year olds around me anymore." Anna said.

"They'll do." Astrid said.

Astrid spent the next ten minutes trying to struggle to get the top and shorts on Caine while he was lying unconscious at her feet and Anna stood watching in silence. Finally she let out a growl of annoyance and threw the clothes down, turning and staring at Anna, hands on her hips.

"Mind helping me?" Astrid said, clearly frustrated.

"Hey! Look here, Astrid the Genie-Ass!" Anna snapped. "You called me out of nowhere. I don't know you and we never actually talked before ever! Now you demand I come here and give you clothes. And then you freak out on me? I mean ten seconds ago you looked like you were going to start crying and screaming and now you're back to being in charge, bossy and demanding. How about you ask me to help you, and while I help you, _you _finish telling me what the bloody hell is going on?!"

Astrid looked both annoyed and reluctant. Finally she nodded. "Okay, okay, I get it. I'm sorry. Could you _please _help me dress him?"

Anna sighed. It was so hard to be angry when people apologised. "Sure."

She crouched down and pushed Caine up so he was sitting, his arm scratched on the bush but he didn't draw any blood and she slowly held him up as Astrid pulled the top on over his head and into his arms. It was only a little bit bigger than Caine and was definitely loose and baggy on his skinny frame. The shorts were the biggest problem, they were clearly too big for him and even when they somehow managed to get them on him they were obviously going to slip down the minute he stood up. The shoes were the only thing that fitted him and that was only because they could tie the shoelaces tight around his feet.

"What do we do about the shorts?" Anna asked, sighing as she lay Caine back down again.

"My sash!" Astrid grinned. She untied the sash from her waist and slowly brought it around Caine's waist, trying it tightly in front of him. "That should do it."

"Okay, now hurry up and explain." Anna snapped.

Sighing, Astrid tried to speak as simply as possible even while frustrated. "Look, I don't know everything, even if people assume I do. The FAYZ was a completely different world with completely different rules and laws almost. We were able to do unnatural things because of the mutations and because it was like we entered a new world where the universe laws had been hacked. But this doesn't make any sense. We're back in the real world. When the walls came down after Little Pete killed Gaia. From what I can guess, when the wall and energy pulled from the Earth, it acted like a suction, pulling out powers along with it and taking everything mutant with it. We were all normal again without powers and without any of the unnatural events that happened." Astrid explained.

"So if that's true, then how come Caine's here? I mean, are you sure he died? Maybe you just thought he died. There's always cases where someone's heart stopped for a few minutes, even an hour, before they come back again." Anna explained, sitting back and frowning at Caine.

"That's what doesn't make any sense. Everything not normal should have left with the FAYZ wall and the powers but out of nowhere this is happening again. And for the record, I'm pretty sure Caine died. After all, I did watch his skin, eyes and organs all melt as he was shocked with lightening before his bare bones exploded." Astrid scowled. "So yeah. I'm pretty sure he died."

Anna looked up and stared at her. "We never spoke much before. We never really met one another either. But we've met now and so now I've decided that I don't like you."

Astrid looked generally shocked by this. Then she suddenly giggled. And then she was laughing aloud.

After a minute of Anna easing away from her and unsure if she had lost her mind again, Astrid spoke. "Sorry. It's just that you're very blunt. It's actually nice. You may not like me, but I'm starting to like you."

Standing, Astrid reached into her bag and pulled out her phone.

"Who are you calling?" Anna blinked.

"I'm hoping Diana will be out of work now." Astrid explained. "Then she can help her get Caine back to our apartment."

"Wasn't Diana in love with Caine? That's why he killed himself for her?" Anna pointed out.

"... Oh... Good point. Best not call her. But Sam won't be out for ages, Edilio's out on a date. I'm not sure on Cookie and-" Astrid rambled.

"How about Emma?" Anna shrugged.

"Emma? Like your sister, Emma?" Astrid blinked.

"Yeah. She headed to college but if she knew this was an emergency then she'd come and help us out." Anna said. Well, she hoped Emma would. This was a weird emergency so it was hard to tell how exactly Emma would react to this over the phone.

"How far away is the college?" Astrid asked.

"I dunno. Maybe half an hour or so away." Anna said, trying to think of how long it normally took her to get there.

"That's way too long! We need to get Caine out of here as soon as possible!" Astrid moaned.

"Well didn't we dress him so that it wouldn't look weird going down the street with him?" Anna asked. Astrid nodded. "Then wouldn't it be weird if we carried him? Why don't we wake him up and get him to _walk _with us back to your place?"

Astrid turned her head and gave her a very cynical look. She crossed her arms before stating. "I may not like the nickname, but people call me Astrid the Genius for a reason. I'm not stupid. I thought of that but we don't know how or why he turned up here. This could be some kind of... I don't know!" Astrid snapped. "The point is, I didn't want to wake him until I had absolutely no other choice."

"I'd say you have no choice." Anna sighed, looking down at Caine. "Do you have any water or anything?"

Astrid checked her bag. She carried a small plastic water bottle but she drank almost half of it while waiting for Anna to show up. Carefully she unscrewed the top and moved beside of Caine's head, slowly turning the water over and pouring it over his face. At first nothing and Astrid was worried he might drown. But then Anna slapped him around the face and he coughed suddenly, breathing heavily as his eye lids slowly began to open.

"He's waking." Anna noted. Then raised her hand and grinned. "Nothing like a good slap to get someone moving!"

"Good lesson." Astrid grinned but she was pale and her eyes were stuck on Caine. She was waiting for something to go wrong.

Caine's eyes blinked slowly. His eyelashes were still wet and water still dropped onto his eyes, making him have to blink all over again. His vision was fuzzy, the light blinded him and the shapes of the leaves and the trees were mixing together and confusing him. Already he could feel a head ache and his skin was ice cold, so cold it was numb and he couldn't even feel the goose bumps trailing him. Then there was that soft material that was lying on his skin, his arms and legs were also bare and his back was aching. His elbow burned like it had been scratched and his spine creaked when he moved his neck left and right. Finally he breathed, ignoring the hot burning pain as he breathed with an incredibly dry throat. Then he saw the two girls hanging over him. One was blonde and pretty but pale and wide eyed, the other was a light brunette with a rounded face and a frown. They were both watching him. He didn't really recognise the brunette but the blonde immediately popped into his mind.

"Astrid? Oh God, what did you do to end up in hell?"

* * *

**4) How do you think Diana and Sam will react?**

**5) Who did you like in Light?**

**6) Who did you hate in Light? **


	3. Chapter 3

**So thank you to those who reviewed the latest chapter. **

* * *

The last thing that Caine remembered was Little Pete giving him that sweet memory of Diana right before he took over his body to defeat Gaia. It had been the sweetest memory and yet he couldn't even remember what it had been now that he looked back despite being so happy when he saw it in his head. All he could remember was that it had been about him and Diana when they were together. After that he entered a wall-less, roof-less, floor-less white room where he just stood, staring around at the bright area and ignoring the sting in his eyes that seemed more like mental than physical pain. He hadn't been abled to move and there didn't seem to be anything or anyone around him so it wasn't the hell (or even the heaven) he had expected. He couldn't have been in the white room for long because he barely had a chance to take any heavy steps forward when everything went black like someone had turned off the lights. It was dark and slowly feeling came back into his skin. Taste came back into his dry throat. Smell came back into his nose and the wind began to blow around his hair.

When he opened his eyes he saw the two girls standing over him, watching closely as he blinked and tried to focus on their features. Not only was he cold, sore and aching but he was confused. Was that... like... the entry way to hell? Was it the first step before you were sent back into the world you would spend an eternity? But it couldn't be hell. He recognised Astrid immediately, kneeling over him. She wouldn't be in hell and since when had she died in the first place? So... What was going on?

The brunette - who seemed familiar but only vaguely - grabbed his arms as Astrid moved and grabbed his shoulders. Together the two of them hauled Caine up to his feet. He stretched his body as best as he could and heard a click in his spine that somehow eased a good portion of his pains. As he moved up and was guided and walked over to the nearest tree to lean on, he felt everything easing off and feeling somehow better then more he moved around. His limbs no longer burned, his bones didn't shake in his skin, and even though he nearly fell over at first he could already feel himself slowly regaining balance. His knees shook. His ankles quivered but he stayed up on his feet. When he leaned back on the tree he took in shaky breaths and shivered as the cold wind hit his bare skin while the soft warm material clung to his body.

Both of the girls were taller than he was now, but surprisingly not by much. They were both holding his elbow, steadying him, making sure he didn't collapse down. Somehow he found this insulting and shook his arms free, holding onto the tree behind him and holding himself up instead. He wasn't weak and he didn't need their help. As soon as he was pretty sure he might not fall, he turned to frown at Astrid. Yup, it wasn't his imagination, she was older. Different too, somehow...

"What is going on?" Caine moaned. His voice was stronger than he thought it would be. There was a slight raspy quality to it but after two coughs it sounded almost as good as new.

"Caine? Can you hear me?" Astrid spoke slowly and loudly like he was some broken doll.

"Oh go bang your head on a dictionary." Caine snarled. "I'm not deaf!"

"He's fine." Astrid snorted. She sounded slightly more relaxed but with a quick glance, Anna could still see the terror behind her eyes. She was still completely freaked and her mind was still working terribly hard to work out how or why this was happening.

"He looks like he's going to throw up." Anna suddenly said, taking a sharp step back away from his slowly greening face.

"Who the hell are you anyway?" Caine snapped, turning to glare at her.

Anna looked offended. She blinked and then frowned, crossing her arms across her chest. Of course she didn't make a big impression while she was in the FAYZ but she still felt slightly insulted at how blunt he was. Trying to brush it off, Anna lowered her arms and offered a false smile.

"Anna... Anna Brakley? I helped take care of the day care with Mother Mary..." Caine looked blank. "I poofed first with my sister Emma!"

Caine stared at her, then rolled his eyes like he was bored and turned to face Astrid. Anna just barely held herself from slapping him around the face.

"Listen... Caine... Are you okay?" Astrid asked, still slow like he was Little Pete.

Caine turned and glared at her. Never had he liked Astrid. She had been a know it all, and from day one she had been intent on hating him even when it appeared he was helping everyone else out in Perdido Beach. Not only that, but she was the opposite of Diana in so many ways. First... She was blonde, Diana had lush dark hair. Second, she was goody two shoes and Diana was wicked... In a hot way. And then there was also the fact that she was Sam's girlfriend and anything that Sam liked, Caine was intent on hating.

"I'm fine!" He snapped. "Just dizzy and... confused. I mean... How did you two die?"

Silence.

Then Anna stepped forward once more. She tried to put on her best sweet smile face she saved for kids but it was hard considering what an ass he had just been to her.

"We are not dead, Caine." Anna said slowly. She glanced as Astrid.

"You're alive." Astrid finished for her.

"Wait, what?" Caine frowned.

"You're alive." Astrid continued. "I just came over and you were lying on the ground. You're back in the real life world. You are alive. We don't know how, we don't know why and we don't even know when. For all we know you could have been lying here for days before I found you."

Caine stared at her and frowned. He was trying to see who exactly she was and what she was talking about. Clearly he couldn't be alive again. He'd been killed when Little Pete took over his body. But then why was he here if they weren't all dead? No, they had to be dead. Maybe they were just in denial and couldn't accept their deaths. But then... No, they had to be dead. Caine couldn't accept that he was alive purely because he did not want to get his hopes up that this might be over and he might be able to live his life again.

"OW!"

Jumping, Caine shouted and moved away from where Anna stood with her hands out from where she had painfully pinched his shoulder blade. He reached up and rubbed his shoulders, glaring at Anna where she stood, almost smugly. Astrid looked just as shocked, standing watching the two of them.

"What the bloody hell was that for?" Caine snapped. He lifted both hands and pointed it straight Anna who didn't even flinch.

"No!" Astrid snapped and jumped in the way to protect Anna.

She had no idea the extent of Caine's powers. She was in danger of being smashed and squashed into the nearest tree if she pissed Caine off too much.

Nothing happened. Caine frowned and pushed his hands in front of him, pumping his arms repeatedly at Astrid and Anna in front of him but neither of them moved an inch. Confused, he tried stepping forward, then backwards. Then forward again and then he tried shaking his hands like they were a set of spray cans that just weren't working. But still nothing happened. He didn't have any powers.

"The whole world has turned back to normal." Astrid whispered, relaxing. "Including your powers."

"This doesn't make any sense..." Caine croaked. "I... I died. I died and... And I had powers and... and..."

For the first time in her life, Astrid felt pity towards him and stepped forward, very slowly, like he might lash out at her if she moved too quickly, she placed her hand on his shoulders. Even if he disliked her, the feel of her warm hand on his shoulder seemed to stop more aching in his bones. When he looked at her, he saw it. Honest confusion in her eyes. He was alive and even she didn't know how. Astrid the Genius was once again at a loss.

Astrid gently took his elbow in her hand. "Look, we have no idea how this is happened or why but I'm sure we will figure it out just like we did the FAYZ. It took time but we worked it all out. Listen, Caine, why don't you come with me and I'll take you back to my apartment. We can get you some better fitting clothes, maybe something to eat. You hungry?"

He turned and glared at her again, shaking her off his arm. "Do I look like a two year old? Honestly, you're looks may have changed but your people skills sure haven't."

Astrid growled as Caine turned and began to walk away. He sure as hell hadn't changed, either.

Anna watched the two of them finding herself mildly amused. They were clearly disliking one another's company and just from looking at them she could see they both thought they were better than one another.

"Well?" Caine snapped, glancing over his shoulder. "Are you coming or are you going to stand there snarling like a bitch?"

Astrid gaped and took a breath to calm herself down. At this point Anna wondered if she should just leave the two at it and head home before she got drawn into any other games being played by these people. But then she found herself being drawn to them. Not only was she interested to see how Astrid lived, or to see Sam again, but she hoped that she might stick around long enough for Astrid to find the answer as to how Caine was alive. Maybe it was worth tagging along.

Just as Astrid turned to ask her if she was coming, Anna ran to catch up. The girls walked side by side behind of Caine as he strode ahead right up to the iron gates before he paused to glance either side, unsure of which way to go. Astrid was resisting the urge to smirk and laugh, let him blunder around for a few minutes when she realised yet another one of her fears and why she had needed someone's help.

"Wait!" Astrid gasped, running ahead and grabbing Caine's shoulder. "We can't let alone see you?!"

Anna caught up. "Why not?"

Astrid rolled her eyes and Anna resisted yet another urge to slap someone. She was getting a lot of them that day.

"Because it's Caine!" Astrid snorted, stepping on front of the two of them. "Caine, Mr and Mrs Brattle-Chance and I were on the radio when we read your letter out to the world. You basically confessed to all of the murders and problems. Technically you could get arrested for it all too. And it's not like they didn't broadcast your pictures all over the television. I mean, I ever heard a rumour that someone was working on your documentary!"

Caine blinked at her. "My what?"

"Your documentary. One of those stupid films where they find out why they did it and how the serial killers grew up the way they did. In other words, we step out there with you striding down the street and people are bound to try and call the police." Astrid explained in a rush of breath.

"Astrid... He's dead." Anna pointed out.

"Exactly." Caine smirked, nodding at Anna like she had proved his point.

"Hello! You think everyone is going to think that! There will be those calling up because their unsure, or those that think you faked your death, or even those that have a blank moment and can't even remember you died. Or even if there are just those people that stop because they feel like commenting how much you look like the guy who confessed to the FAYZ incident. I mean it's not even like the FAYZ is a thing hardly anyone has heard about. It was spread around the entire world for goodness sake. Just take a moment and think." Astrid stressed. "The point is we don't need the distraction or the stalling. We need to get you back to our apartment before anyone tries anything. Clear?"

Caine turned to look at Anna, pointing at Astrid. "Did she ever stop being bossy?" He asked.

Astrid scowled as Anna shrugged. "How should I know. I didn't even know she was bossy before."

"I am getting tired of being made fun of." Astrid snapped. She stepped aside, waving her hand at the iron gates. "Fine, Caine. Go ahead. Get going. Walk down the street." Astrid placed both hands on her hips and glared at him. "Anna and I will stay here and bet on how long it takes before you're stopped and arrested or talked to or stabbed by some crazy nut."

He nearly did it. Caine nearly stepped forward and strode away from her just to wipe that smug look on her face.

But the thought of being arrested didn't sound very appealing. Especially since they would be asking him questions he just didn't have the answers to. Caine would need to settle back at least until he found out what was happening and then he could leave and live his life. Maybe he could find Connie Temple and seriously ask her why, or maybe he could find some other people who pissed him off and give them a scare. And then there was always...

Not realising he was getting ready to follow her and thinking he needed more encouragement, Astrid brought up the one thing he had just been thinking about.

"Diana lives with Sam and me now." Astrid said. "If you get back to my apartment then you could see her. But you might be needing help with that."

Caine turned and glared at her. "Just wait until I get my powers back."

"You think you're going to?" Astrid snorted.

"Of course. Don't you?" Caine rolled his eyes. "We had them before the FAYZ, why not after?"

"Well..." Astrid stuttered. "Because when the FAYZ wall went it took all our powers with it. I mean we had them because of the radiation and because of Gaia, so when she died she took the radiation as well as the rest of our powers."

Caine rolled his eyes. "Believe that, but I'm gonna believe we can get our powers back eventually." He waited and waved his hand forward. "Are you going to lead or are we camping out here tonight?" It was a subtle move and neither girl noticed, but Caine was trying to casually move a nearby leaf. It didn't even flick.

Anna was pretty sure she could see that Astrid was now having similar urges as Anna to slap Caine. It was nice to know she wasn't alone. But she felt she should somehow be the peace maker in this because... Well because there was no one else here who could. So she stepped up between the two of them and held her hands out facing each other.

"Cool it guys. I'm hungry, so, as a thank you, I'm heading back with you guys and Astrid can cook. Yeah?" Anna said, looking at Astrid.

Astrid breathed out, letting steam through her nose. "Sure. This way. And Caine, keep your head down and try and hide behind your hair or something. Don't speak and stick in between Anna and me."

She didn't wait for answer. Instead she strode ahead with Anna pushing Caine along to keep him up in between the two of them. He seemed to being purposely stubborn on her, dragging his feet and forcibly slowing them down as he put all his weight on her hands. Finally he grew bored and walked beside of Astrid, doing as she said surprisingly enough by ducking his head and moving his long hair so it just covered his upper face as best as he could. They were lucky his hair had grown so long. He walked ducking behind the two girls but it wasn't very busy in the day time, even on such a nice day time. Five cars passed in total, but all of them were moving much too fast for them to see Caine or Anna or Astrid. Then three groups of people and one solo person wandered passed. All of them were on the other side of the streets and didn't even look up at them even if they did happen to be keeping pace.

Caine hated walking slowly. His feet kicked stones and pebbles on the floor just to keep himself entertained. Eventually he annoyed the girls and Anna kicked out her foot, knocking the pebble out of his range and dragging him along slightly faster before Astrid grabbed him and slowed him down. She would have liked to rush, maybe they would have gotten home faster, but the problem was drawing attention. The wind would blow his hair out of the way and running would immediately bring every eye onto the three of them. They might even be stopped or Caine could very well trip while they were running since he still wobbled on his feet. His bones and limbs had long since stopped aching but ever now and then he would make a movement that would leave him feeling like something had disconnected his body from his brain. The walk normally didn't take Astrid too long to and from the park but because they kept pausing whenever a car or person passed it took them nearly forty five minutes before Astrid was unlocking their front door and stepping inside.

"It is freezing in here!" Anna suddenly shouted.

Astrid turned and scowled at her. "It is perfectly fine in here. It's just hot out there. Come on and sit down."

It was quite small, the only thing that they could afford on such low paying jobs. Even most of the furniture was second hand. Astrid's parents had supplied their main room furniture, and the kitchen counters and sink had come with in the joining kitchen area. The bedroom had all been brought second hand from a old shop. It had three rooms, not including the tiny kitchen. The walls had all been repainted by the three of them one happy storming night and most of the floor was just floorboards rather than carpet or anything. It was small, it was second hand, it was quite run down and it was cheap but Astrid considered this more of her home than any other place and she loved it. So it meant she was not going to stand for anyone insulting it.

Caine moved and threw himself down on one of the thick soft red double sofa, putting his feet up on the home made beaten coffee table that had been covered with an old shower curtain to keep it from stained. Instantly he relieved himself of the shoes and ran a hand through his hair to get it off out of his face.

Astrid found herself staring at him. "Well make yourself at home." She snorted.

"Will do!" Caine smirked and reached for the controls.

"If you want to watch something you might want to switch on the TV." Astrid said and waved Anna over to the kitchen area.

Caine groaned but got up and soon was throwing himself back once more as he began to channel surf. He hadn't been able to watch TV like this since before the FAYZ and then he died. Everything was different now. New shows. New channels. Even a few new actors and actresses glamourizing the screen.

As Caine got comfy and reacquainted himself with the news, music, cartoons and soaps that were supplied for him, Astrid turned on the kettle and opened the fridge, preparing sandwiches.

"What would you like?" Astrid asked Anna.

"I'll have chocolate!" Caine suddenly called. "Chocolate with salt and vinegar crisps!" He was suddenly feeling his mouth watered and realised he hadn't had chocolate or crisps since before the FAYZ either!

"I wasn't asking you!" Astrid snapped but reached for the chocolate spread anyway.

"Could I have chocolate too?" Anna said kindly.

"Sure." Astrid nodded with a general smile and collected a three sets of plates and knives.

"Here. Let me help." Anna offered.

Astrid smiled but then felt the sudden urge to demand that Caine get off his fat ass and make his own damn sandwich. With him and his feet up while the girls made lunch she felt like they were back in olden times when women waited on the men. But then she reminded herself that, even if she didn't like him, Caine had been brought back from the dead and even if he was acting cocky then he was probably breaking apart inside.

Even Anna was sure that behind that smirk and cool calming eyes Caine was freaking out and asking the same questions that they were.

But the truth was he wasn't. Caine wasn't the slightest bit worried or nervous. He was excited, exhilarated, looking forward to another shot a life. It would have been better with his powers but you couldn't have anything. And yes, while he was curious about how it happened he wasn't jumping for the chance to undo anything. Why would anyone be looking back if they were in Caine's shoes? Not only could he ask the questions he never got a chance, not only could he get revenge on those who he felt deserved it, but he had redeemed himself by letting Little Pete use him to kill Gaia and now he was getting to live his life. And not just live it. He was getting a chance to live it with Diana again. He couldn't wait for her to come back and see him.

Caine considered calling and asking when she got off, but he didn't want to sound desperate or needy so he stayed quiet. The girls silently made sandwiches as Caine channel surfed. They were all so silent for a while and Caine enjoyed it so much that his eyes grew heavy and he drifted right off to sleep.

"Should we wake him?" He distantly heard Anna stage whisper to Astrid.

"No way. The longer he sleeps the longer his mouth stays shut. I'll just put his sandwich in the fridge for when he wakes up. Go on and eat." Astrid replied, much more quieter.

"Okay."

Caine dreamed.

He dreamed... Of Little Pete?

**G*O*N*E**

It lifted it's head off of the floor. The ground was dirty to the touch and some sticky residue had been left under its chin but it barely notice that. All it could notice was the world around it. One minute it had been living in complete darkness, the next it was astounded by a bright light that seemed to come in every direction and make it cringe. It ducked down and shut it's black eyes for a moment before blinking and looking up again, already excitement hit it hard and it began to move forward towards the light as quickly as it could. Every feeling from his hands, to the smell in his nose, to the light in his eyes pumped more excitement through it's body and it rushed right out of the alleyway.

They alleyway was long and dark, on the right was a brick wall and on the left was a high wooden fence. At the far end was another brick wall and a clear dead end. The only way out was straight ahead into the light and into the street. There was rubbish and rain in the alley where the sun had been unable to reach and dry it from early rain falls. It was the perfect place for people to throw things away when they could not be bothered to walk towards the nearest bin that was right across the street. The sky was blue. The clouds were white. The pavement was a mixture of different grey shades. The houses were either white or a reddish brown colours. There were green trees, brown branches and black gates. The whole world was a smash of colours and lights. The smells were intense. Food, plants, spoilt and rotting food, sweet smells, sour smells. All of it filled its nose and make its body shiver. It moved further out into the light and glanced around the street. No one was there.

Then suddenly a man. He was old, quite old dressed in a navy blue suit and walking with a brown suitcase in one hand and a set of keys in the other. The man walked straight towards it and passed, not even noticing it. After a moments hesitation, caught off guard when a breeze tingled it's body and sent more pleasurable feelings through it, it followed the man. The man only took a few more steps before he patted down his greying hair and then opened the bright white door of a home. The colours both burned and pleased it. It watched the man turn the keys and open the door, immediately flocked by two young children barely out of their toddler years.

"Hey, sweethearts!" The man beamed, leaning down and kissing the top of each girls head. "Miss me?"

Sound. The sound of the wind rustling the trees had been intense and confusing but the sound of the voice was amazing. Suddenly it wanted to hear the sound again, only it wanted to hear the voice screaming and begging and crying in agony. It quickly moved, sliding in the door moments before the man shut the door behind him, picking up his two small daughters and heading for the main room with them all smiling and laughing. No. It didn't like the sound of laughter. It wanted to hear screams.

And that's when the fire started.

* * *

**7) What do you think _It _is?**

**8) What is your favourite scene in Light?**

**9) And your least favourite?**


	4. Chapter 4

Today was an unlucky day.

Working at a cafe was probably one of the worst choices Diana had ever made. It was not the worst choice but definitely not the best. She had made far worse choices in her life. Encouraging Caine with his powers had definitely turned around and bit her in the ass when he got his courage to try and make plans of his own. Making enemies with Drake was probably not very smart either considering what he became. Of course eating Panda in order to survive haunted her to this very day, and then sleeping with Caine without protection, therefore making Gaia was the worst of the worst. But the cafe was a close enough one purely because it was a really terrible place to visit. She didn't hate cafe's in general, she just hated the one where she worked.

The cafe Diana worked out was called Coco Mix. It was on a run down street where people hardly left their houses let alone visited a small cafe for a drink or sandwich. The walls were dark green, the carpet a sickly green and even the ceiling had been painted a lime green that looked ridiculous, especially with all the extra added stains from the food and drinks sold there. The furnitures were all stiff brown chairs and matching moldy tables, the counter was very much the same and behind it all the drinks seemed to taste the same and all the food felt the same. And then there were the people that actually worked there, particularly Diana's boss. Matt Landy was the owner of Coco Mix and clearly did not care what happened to the place. He was lanky, skeleton thin, greasy black hair, a rough beard and dark brown eyes. He had dark skin and always wore a vest and some kind of tracksuit bottoms that didn't fit right. Landy treated Diana like a dog, working her for hours and paying her hardly anything but she had chosen this cafe to work because hardly anyone entered and it meant she could hide away if someone happened to pass and didn't have to keep answering questions about the FAYZ.

That afternoon Diana finished her shift and hurried into the staff room. It was basically a closet with a single chair that Landy could be found on most days. Diana grabbed her bag off of the side shelf and pulled it on over her shoulder. She brushed down her black skirt and hurried from the room, making her way to the front of the shop where the front doors stood waiting for her to step outside to freedom.

"You better be on time tomorrow." Landy snarled from behind the bar of the empty cafe. It was overly stuffy and hot in the room, none of the windows opened and Diana couldn't wait to get outside. Yet another reason why the place was empty.

Diana had been, literally, ten seconds late. Not even that because she had arrived on time but had to change, and normally Landy wouldn't pay any attention but he hated all employees, especially those like Diana who refused to sleep with him on the first day. So he paid attention just to attack her for it. Just another reason why she hated it here. She might have quit but the location and lack of people worked for her, as well as the fact that Landy didn't pay much attention to the FAYZ and didn't actually know Diana was from it. And then, there was the fact that she wasn't sure she could afford to quit and go job hunting again.

She resisted the urge to say something and instead stepped outside. The cool wind and fresh air almost made her collapse in relief just like all the other times when she came out, but she held strong, smiled and walked down the street. Diana didn't stop anywhere on her way, she liked to just get home and rest, especially after working at Coco Mix.

Because Diana liked to avoid as many people as possible when walking home it did mean she had to take a long way where she ducked in and out of dark alleyways. It wasn't very late at all and the sun still shined down on them but because of the high buildings it rarely actually hit a good part of the ground, particularly those in between larger buildings and shops along the pathway home. Diana spent most of her time wandering down the streets at a quick pace, sliding in and out of the alleys and keeping her head down as if that made a difference. It helped that she dressed to hide. She kept her long dark hair done up in a point tail on the back of her head and wore no makeup, she wore a green top with thin straps over her shoulders and a loose unbuttoned light blue shirt over the top (it had to be done up when she was working). She had on her black skirt but underneath were dark green shorts (an added measure to keep Landy from flipping up a look at her underwear) and white trainers but she also wore a white and red baseball cap that mostly hid the top of her face. Because of this she was able to blend in and hide at the same time.

Normally she managed to get back with no more disruptions because she kept to her personal routine back home, but today was an extremely unlucky day. And instead of a peaceful walk home she ran into a group of boys.

They weren't a gang of boys in hoodies that were going to jump and beat her up and steal from her or try anything else horrible. In fact they were probably younger than she was, barely out of school or possibly ditching their classes for the afternoon. The problem was that there were three of them, that they were all trying to look hard and Diana hated having to talk to people in general. Ever since they moved here Diana had been very secluded, keeping to herself and almost avoiding people in general. That was partly because of the FAYZ and the way that she was spoken to and treated since but it was also due to her never wanting to get close to anyone else after what happened to Caine. He had been the only person to truly understand her and she had loved him, but he had sacrificed himself and left her alone. She couldn't trust anybody else ever again.

"Hey, sweetheart!" One of the boys shouted. "You're looking hot under all that clothing."

They all hooted liked owls and laughed like hyenas. Diana rolled her eyes and resisted the urge to say something cutting like she normally would. These guys were all just idiots trying to be hard and look tough in front of their friends. They were idiots and didn't know anything about the real world yet.

Diana wondered about taking the short cut but a quick glance showed the streets were steadily getting busier. And she wasn't the kind of girl to just back down.

"Move." Diana said as she stepped up. They all spread out in front of her and smirked like they knew something she didn't. "I said move."

"We heard ya, but we like standing here. Don't we boys!" The first boy grinned.

They all cheered and chimed in. These boys were complete idiots.

Diana went to push passed but the smallest boy got in her way. He looked her up and down with an animal like grin. Now that she was up close she could easily see that every one of them was no more than fifteen year old, her age while she had been in the FAYZ, and they were all basically nerds from what she could see. They were freckled, pale, thick rimmed glasses, braces and were each carrying backpacks as big as her head. But yet they were ditching. Either they were the most un-stereotypical bad boys Diana had ever met or they were nerds trying desperately to be tough. Either way... It was extremely pathetic.

"Hey, sweetie," the younger one grinned. "Wanna hang out with us?"

"You have..." Diana pretended to think. "I'd say about ten seconds to move before I cut you."

They all frowned at her, confused. One of the after effects from the FAYZ was that no kid from the FAYZ was ever unprepared. Even back in the real world they all had worries or no superstitions about it being a good place and they had some kind of a weapon. It was either a piece of wood, a kitchen knife or anything else they could get a hold of. Diana had seen one person a few weeks back carrying around a fork under his top.

Personally, Diana carried a knife. It was a switch blade like knife that she quickly pulled from the inside of her bra strap and flicked it open, waving it in front of her, incredibly close to the boy in front. Immediately he jumped back, screaming in shock as Diana spun and turned the knife on each of them for just a moment so they would all back away. She wanted to make sure they got the message.

"Now, back off!" Diana snapped.

"Okay, okay, we get it!" A boy snapped. "We're going!"

They all hurried together and ran as far away from her as they could. Diana watched them go, still crouched slightly as she held the knife out in front of her, ready to pounce if any of them tried to come running back. But they were all long gone. And they would not be coming back. Cowards.

As if thinking it wasn't enough Diana spat it out loud. "Cowards!"

She tucked the switch blade back away in her bra strap and turned to continue the walk calmly back again. Now she was even more hot and bothered and slightly pissed.

Diana, like most members of the FAYZ, got pissed easily when she saw children and people her age acting so irresponsibly. She actually heard that a couple of children had broken down crying when they had seen two other children just carelessly throw away their McDonalds. Elsewhere when children were seen laughing and picking on one another because they looked different a teenager who had become a man after the FAYZ ended was actually arrested for attacking them in anger. It turned out he was a member of Zil's old Human Crew and actually felt guilty for what he did and now was pissed to see people arguing over brown eyes rather than blue considering what he had argued over. That and more repeatedly made others angry or sad and the worst part was that the kids of the FAYZ were then blamed for not controlling themselves better with the same lines being said over and over again. Diana herself had been told this very line when she had shouted at a couple of kids complaining about their parents for not letting them out later. "You're not in the anomaly anymore, so stop acting like it."

Maybe Diana might be able to put up with this if it wasn't told to her, Astrid and Sam more than others almost once a day. The problem for them was named Ripley Harper. Ripley was a police officer, particularly one that dealt in the FAYZ after the walls had come down, but after that had been sorted he had offered to take up street rounds and no one knew why. At least until they discovered he chose this purposely to keep an eye on Sam, Astrid and Diana since all their names came up most of all and they were all living together in one area. It was quickly noticed he was picking up on every little thing they did wrong. He fined Sam because he dropped a gum wrapper and he had spent ten minutes lecturing Diana after she had shouted a swear word at a little kid who had nearly run over her toes on his bike. It seemed never ending and even though he didn't live anywhere near them, he passed their house at least twice a day.

If Ripley caught Diana with a knife (or Sam or Astrid with their knives) he'd probably arrest them on the spot. He was looking for a good reason to arrest them too. And not just for a few days, a few weeks or even a few months. Ripley wanted all three of them to go away for years, the rest of their lives if he could manage it. But at the same time he was not stupid. He wasn't going to nag at them and give them any reason to get him in trouble or even someone else watching their street with him, he was patiently waiting his time but Diana had a bad feeling he might be waiting to set them up.

Of course Astrid had a different thought on the matter. She had the view that since he was an officer he wasn't going to set them up, like all officers were saints. Diana (and even Sam) had pointed out all the rogue or bad officers that had been on the television and had happened in real life but she refused to believe it. Diana was sure part of it was just because she _wanted _to believe in some kind of normal authority that could help them rather than she actually did believe. It was partly sad and partly admirable that she could so easily click right back into the normal while Diana still had a hard time so much as trusting her roommates, let alone strangers who clearly hated them.

Diana stalled when she realised she was home already. Normally it took longer but she was so lost in her own thoughts that it passed in no time. For that she was grateful. What she wasn't grateful for was that her thoughts still wouldn't shut up.

Moving on from a normal boyfriend was probably incredibly hard, Diana wouldn't know for sure because she hadn't actually had a real steady boyfriend before. At least not a normal kind. Caine was definitely not normal but he was the closest thing she ever had to a boyfriend and so a normal break up would be hard but the way they had parted just seemed to make it all wore. Her chest felt heavy and hard whenever she remembered his last moments. The way he had died and the way it had all looked. It was impossible to forget the way his skin melted and the way his body burned under Gaia's powers. He had saved them all but part of her couldn't help but wonder what would have happened, what would life be like, if he had remained the same old selfish Caine. What about if they had just stayed on the Island? What if they had hidden away and never returned? What would life have been like? What would Diana be like? What would her daughter be like?

Diana paused at the top of the stairs. Her breath was coming hard after the climb but also after thinking so much about Caine. She knew she was probably pink in the face and Diana liked to sort herself out before she went inside and had to face Astrid. The two girls had slowly began to get on much better than in the old days but that didn't actually make them friends. They were just two very different people who liked very different things and hated different things too. And the worst part was how badly Astrid tried to be friends. One of the many things she tried was when she always asked how Diana was feeling and always let her know she was there if she wanted to talk about anything, including Caine.

She didn't want to talk about Caine. She didn't want to think about him. But he just kept coming back, again and again. It was like he was haunting her.

Of course this was thought just as she opened the doors and stepped inside their apartment. Diana didn't love or hate the place. She just lived in it. Diana threw down her bag on the floor by the door and moved over to throw herself down on the sofa where she always did after work to relax because Astrid was either in her room or out. She barely looked before she landed hard on someone's lap and bounced right back up in shock.

"Astrid!" Diana guessed. "Sorry I-"

As she turned around she froze in place and stared down at the person now staring up at her.

Caine rubbed the rest of the sleep from his eyes and smirked. "Good morning, nice view."

Diana stared at him and felt a scream building in the back of her throat. She opened her mouth to raise all hell but instead her eyes rolled and she crumbled to the ground in a heap.

**G*O*N*E**

"How else did you expect her to react?" Anna snapped, handing Diana a glass of water while Astrid held an ice bag on her head where a bump was slowly growing.

"I never said I expected sex on the doorstep." Caine scowled. "But you can't blame me for feeling just a little insulted."

"Both of you shut up!" Astrid snapped. She turned to Diana. "Are you okay?"

Diana responded by staring up at Caine in silence. She swallowed hard and looked down at the floor. When she had woken, assuming it had been a dream, it had been Caine leaning over her, helping her onto a chair and asking her if she was okay. Anna and Astrid had come running from where they had been talking privately in the bedroom and had immediately hurried to help her but all the while Diana could not take her eyes off of Caine.

He felt real. He looked real. He even smelt real. Diana took a deep breath in her nose before she realised what she was doing and blushed looking back up at Caine again with almost accusing eyes. No matter how real he felt, looked and smelt, it could not possibly be the real him. The real him died. But no one had to even tell her that this was the real him for her to know it. No one knew Caine better than Diana and just by staring at him she knew that this was definitely the real him. Only... Younger somehow.

Suddenly it was too much and Diana jumped to her feet. She pushed everyone's hands away from her, dropping her glass so it smashed on the floor and ran for the bedroom.

"Diana! Wait!" Astrid called but she ignored her.

As soon as the door slammed Anna turned on Caine once more and scowled at him.

"What did you do before we got here? Apart from clearly terrify her." Anna snapped.

Caine pointedly stared at her. "Ignoring you." Then he turned to look at Astrid before nodding at her. "And ignoring you."

Both girls looked offended as Caine turned and walked to the door Diana had just slammed shut behind of her. He saw the recognition in her eyes but that didn't mean too much when she could know who he was and still not believe it was him. Pretending that the girls were not there, Caine gently knocked on the door and leaned his forehead against the wooden frame, trying to hear movement but it was silent and still.

Finally he turned and scowled at the girls. "You two wanna give us some privacy?"

"Excuse me?!" Anna snapped.

"Fine." Astrid sighed, earning an outraged look from Anna. She reached over and took Anna by the back of her shirt, dragging her arguing from the room and shutting the door behind of them. They didn't have anywhere else to go, they would be forced to just wait outside of the apartment until Caine had spoken to Diana.

As soon as they were gone Caine gently knocked on the door once more and waited but there was still no sound from inside the room.

Inside, Diana was crouched down on the floor, her face in her arms, curled up into a ball and trying to ignore Caine outside. Never before had she been at such a loss. She really didn't know what to think this time. Part of her was overjoyed. Another part terrified. If this was Caine, and she believed it was, then did this mean the FAYZ was coming back again? Was this the start of some new torture? Like most kids, Diana was still haunted by memories and she didn't want anymore to be joining them. But then Caine was back! He was back! She had been missing him for so long and now he was back. What did this mean? What did any of this mean?

"Diana?" Caine asked through the door. "I know you're confused. I am too. But... But I'm alive! I mean how great is that! Let me in and we can talk."

Diana hesitated before lifting her head and speaking. Her voice was stronger than she thought it would be. "How are you back, Caine?"

"How should I know?" Caine laughed. "And honestly I don't care. I'm back! That is all that matters!"

No. It was not all that mattered. If Caine was back from the dead then that meant that bad things were continuing to happen and that meant maybe they were not as free from the FAYZ as they all thought. If Caine could come back then who else could come back with him? Could Drake come back? Oh God, what about Gaia? What if they all came back. What if the wall came back? What if...

"Diana I was really looking forward to seeing you again. Even if you're not, can't I just look at you?" Caine asked through the door.

Diana hesitated. She heard him gently thump his head against the door and ask her politely. Slowly she climbed to her feet and turned back to face the door in a similar way that she was sure Caine was doing too. Then she reached for the door handle and slowly opened it. She only opened it a jar before she turned and walked to sit down on the edge of her bed and wait for him to come in. When he did, he still stood in the doorway.

"It's okay for me to actually come in, right?" Caine checked.

"I didn't open the door for nothing." Diana said. She flicked her head and blushed at the sudden deja vu sensation. She hadn't spoken like that or moved her head like that since... Well since the last time that her and Caine had been together back in the FAYZ.

Caine stepped inside and walked over to stand in front of her. "I can guess this is hard for you... Those two idiots kept babbling about how hard it must be for me but honestly all I see this as is another opportunity. I see this as a second chance. And I want to share this second chance with you, when you're ready. But honestly I've been waiting all day for you to come home so can you hurry up with being ready? Yeah? Okay."

Diana found herself smirking. Then she was angry. Standing, she stepped forward and shoved him. She was taller now, not much but still enough to make an impression.

"You jerk! After what you did! You killed yourself! You gave up and just went and killed yourself and you weren't even going to let me be there with you! You made me jump and swim in the cold water just to be by your side and you didn't even have the decency to... to..." Diana fell silent. She was unable to say anything more because she didn't know what she wanted to say. All she knew was that now she was face to face with him, she didn't want to hug him or laugh or be happy. She wanted to be angry.

"I'm sorry but I did save your life." Caine said, looking more amused than anything else.

"You think I care about any of that?!" Diana snapped. "You just decide to kill yourself and then walk back into my life and think everything will be okay? I bet you did expect me to drop my knickers for you the moment I first saw you, huh, didn't you? You probably expected me to jump in the bed and beg you to take me!"

"No, that isn't it at all." Caine said, the humour vanishing from his eyes.

"Yeah right! You're just as pathetic, awkward and a loser as you were..." Diana fell silent when she heard Astrid.

"Sam! Wait!" Astrid called. "I have to tell you something!"

"One minute." Sam said, rushing inside. "I need to grab something. Quinn met me after work and he's mum's driving and she's gonna take us down to the beach for some waves and you know how long I have been... waiting... for... waves..." Sam slowed as he stared at Caine and Diana facing one another through the doorway of her room.

"Sam, do you mind? I am trying to have an argument with my dead ex boyfriend." Diana snapped. She walked over and slammed the door in his face.

Sam stood there. All thoughts of waves and his best friend waiting for him vanished from his mind before he even finished his sentence. He stared at the door before turning where Astrid and some girl he vaguely recognised stood, both looking awkward. He turned to the door, then back at the girls. Door... Girls... Door... Girls... Door...

Finally Sam turned, walked to the kitchen to get a glass of water. He drained half of the glass as he slowly made his way over to Astrid. It was only when he had settled down in a chair, facing the girls that he set the glass down and asked as calmly as he could; "So... You had something you wanted to tell me?"

Astrid swallowed and smiled. "I found your dead twin brother naked in the park."

* * *

**10) How do you think Sam will react next?**

**11) How did you feel about the way Michael Grant rounded off the ending?**


	5. Chapter 5

Diana was no longer talking to Caine.

It was like they were children again and she was playing the silent game, sitting stiffly on the opposite end of the sofa with her arms crossed and her lips pursed stubbornly with her chin in the air like she was trying to smell something. She turned her body away from him in every way she could possibly do it even if it was just pointed at the door and she was staring at nothing. Caine seemed to be pretending he didn't care about this, he was slouching back on the chair with his feet up now on the small table in front of them once more, playing Sam's X-Box. He had been playing it for a few minutes now but his eyes repeatedly found their way to Diana. They went back and forth from her face to the screen. He was not doing badly, but not well either. Maybe if he paid attention then he might be better but Diana was far too distracting for him. He was still trying to think of a way to defuse the bomb building inside of her so they could go back to being happy that he was alive again.

Meanwhile Astrid, Anna and Sam had crowded in the kitchen where they whispered loudly to one another. They were each making everyone a cup of tea or coffee or a hot chocolate partly to give something to do and drink but also so that they could crowd around in one place together and talk about what had just happened. Sam had taken just a few moments to send Quinn down to the beach on his own and promised to call him later tonight if he remembered. Part of him wondered if he should have called Quinn up and told him what happened but at the same time he wasn't sure of what had happened. Best leave it for a few hours or day so that he could sort out his own mind and only call him if he needed to be there. No point in worrying everyone over nothing.

"You just found him lying there?" Sam hissed, glancing repeatedly over at his brother and Diana. Astrid had told him the basics of the story again and again as they waited for the kettle to boil. He still could not believe what he had been told no matter how many times he relayed it but the evidence was barely feet away from him. For some reason he had it in his mind that Caine dropped from the sky like a naked ghost before he hit the ground but that was ridiculous.

"Yes. I needed to do something quick before anyone saw him and that's why I called Anna." Astrid explained. She didn't go into much detail after the first sentence. After all, that pretty much explained it.

"Thanks," Sam said, momentarily turning to Anna. "It was cool of you to help out."

"No problem." Anna smiled. She had been silent mostly, just listening to Sam and Astrid discuss it with one another.

It was weird seeing Sam again. She had wondered if there would be any emotional feelings between the two of them but now she was in the same room as him there clearly wasn't. In fact Anna found herself grinning when she thought of how worried she had been about seeing him again. It was just like seeing an old cousin. You recognised them and liked them but you didn't think that much about them afterwards. Even when she found out Sam was a hero of the FAYZ and she remembered him saving everyone on the bus, it was still weird to think too much about him because after big events and acts of heroism, he blended back into the normal again.

"So what do we do now?" Sam asked looking back at Astrid again.

"I guess the only thing we can do is ask Caine some questions, try and get an answer from him or something." Astrid shrugged. "I'm just worried about how Diana is dealing."

"I am doing fine!" Diana snapped without warning. The three of them winced together when they realised they were not being as quiet as they originally thought. Astrid blushed and ducked her head as Diana stood up and stormed over to them, looking ready to do something she just might later regret.

Immediately Caine was up and turning around on the chair so that he could stare at them all on his knees. He saw a cat fight coming just as much as the rest of them.

"Let's not start fighting." Sam cautioned as he placed himself in between the two girls.

Diana hesitated for a moment. She actually seemed like she might challenge Sam just to get some of her frustration out there. "Whatever!" She snapped.

Turning around, Diana walked back over to the seat where she had been in when she had completely lost her mind after seeing Caine again. Staring down at the glass stained carpet she remembered each and everything she had been feeling when she dropped it. Shock. Fear. Confusing. And love for him, too. But the fear and confusion had over done the love he felt. Slowly she went to pick up the glass she had shattered to clean up the mess just because she felt the need to do something.

"Wait, Diana!" Astrid shouted when she saw what she was going to do.

"OW!"

Diana jumped up and clutched her hand at the sharp feeling. One of the pieces had cut along her hand and was bleeding hard now just under and along her thumb to the spot above her wrist that was trailing blood. A few drops fell down to the carpet or began to run down the skin of her arm. Caine was by her side in seconds but so was Astrid and Sam. Anna was the only one who was hanging back. As they crowded around her, Diana got the strangest sense of claustrophobia like she was being smothered.

"Get away from me!" Diana snapped, stepping away and hurrying to the sink.

"Man you got bitchy as the years went on!" Caine snapped back, turning and throwing himself back down, turning back to his game.

Maybe it was mean or out of order. She was clearly shocked and a little scared but she was also being unfair if you asked Caine. He had just come back from the dead. He had died. He had sacrificed himself to save everyone else, including her, and all she was doing was shouting at him and moving like he had some kind of contageous disease. It was insulting and incredibly hurtful.

Diana let out a growl as she thrust her hand under the tap and began to wash away the worst of the blood. She almost shoved Anna to the floor when she pushed her out of the way in her anger. Sam and Astrid hovered by the side for a moment, sharing a nervous glance before they slowly separated. They both knew what to do. Sam settled down facing Caine and Astrid made her way over to Diana while Anna moved to cautiously lean against the wall out of swinging range. Neither Sam nor Astrid knew how to handle this on top of the confusion of Caine's reappearance but they were going to do their best.

Astrid stared at the hand in the water for a full minute as she tried to think of something to say and in the end she just sighed. "You need stitches."

"It's fine!" Diana snapped.

"I'm serious, Diana." Astrid frowned. "Come on. We'll take you down to the hospital, give you some time to breathe."

Diana hesitated and glanced out towards Caine where he was ignoring Sam's attempt to talk and getting more violent in the Call Of Duty game which included shooting his own men. Then she looked over at Astrid again who was frowning with concern. Finally she nodded her head and went to grab her bag from beside of the door, careful to avoid dropping blood all over it.

"We're just going to get her hand stitched up." Astrid explained to the two boys. "Be back soon. Why don't you two talk some more while we're gone."

"I'll come." Anna offered. The last thing she wanted was to be alone with Caine and Sam.

"Okay, come on."

The three girls wrapped Diana's hand in a blue and white kitchen towel being careful not to hurt her anymore to keep her from bleeding the whole way there. They only had three but they could easily wash it out afterwards. As soon as her hand was wrapped up she pulled free from them and strode ahead on her own. She was not going to show any weakness by asking for help or even accepting their help when they offered. Astrid momentarily glanced from Diana to Caine. She was starting to act a lot like her old self with Caine here. This did nothing for Astrid's worry apart from maybe make it worse.

As soon as they were gone and the door was shut firmly behind them, Sam moved closer to sit on the same sofa as Caine, who still ignored him completely. In honesty he didn't know where to start so he just started with moving closer to him.

He didn't look any different. Actually he did and that was the weird part. Caine looked really healthy like shortly after they had actually entered the FAYZ. He was handsome, seriously healthy and well fed (Sam just couldn't get over how healthy), tanned with no bags under his eyes from sleepless nights and no wide eyed look from the horror of his past. In fact he really did look like he was fresh from Coates Academy on that day when they had met for the first time. Even his hair, long and perfectly clean. There was no grease or even any dust or dirt from where he had been lying in the park on the ground. The only sign that there was anything wrong was that his clothes were all much too big on him and he had a nervous sort of twitch in his eye whenever he shot or killed something in the game. But still he was so healthy! Even more than Sam who had been alive for the passed two years.

"You're not that shocked." Caine said suddenly.

"What?" Sam blinked.

"Diana won't talk to me, when she does she shouts and Astrid keeps talking in her big words and all scientific crap, and Anna just stares at me like I'm a mutant zombie monster freak." Caine grinned at the Z word before he turned serious again. Still he did not look away from the screen in front of him or slow down pushing the buttons on the game controller in his hands. "You don't really seem at all hurt or shocked or anything. You just seem completely normal."

Sam nodded his head and smiled. "Astrid, Diana and especially Anna all got used to life being normal again. None of them wanted to accept anything new was going to happen. They just wanted to be them again. I wish I could be me again but deep down, and not even that deep down, I knew this was coming. I knew that was not the end. I guess something I learned, apart from the fact that this was not the end, was that the FAYZ is now a part of me whether I want to play pretend or accept reality. I gave up on reality a very long time ago, not long after it started in fact."

"So you guessed it wasn't the end?" Caine snorted.

"No, actually. Now that I think about it, it was more like I was just prepared for it." Sam said. He waited a moment before asking a question. He was talking now and Sam wanted to take advantage of that. "What is the last thing you remember?"

"Dying."

"Seriously? That's the very last thing?" Sam stressed.

Caine hesitated like he was thinking. Sam thought they might have a break through but then he shrugged his shoulders. "Yup. Last thing."

"I don't think you're telling me everything." Sam noted.

Caine smirked again. Sam fell silent and continued to watch him as he played the game. But as he died several times it was clear he was just as distracted as Sam.

**G*O*N*E**

Diana didn't like hospitals. She wished she could have stayed back and avoided the whole place altogether but at the same time she had wanted to get as far away from Caine as she possibly could. When she had first seen him she had been in shock. Next she had been so happy she had wanted to hug him and never let go until the day they died together. But then the fear and shock of him being back and it being like FAYZ again had left her so angry and cold she couldn't bring herself to do anything but shout at him for things that were not even his fault. So some time away, even just to get a needle through her skin, would be good for her. She just needed to clear her head, maybe get some fresh air or something. Anything. And it would have been better if she could have gone alone but at least both Anna and Astrid seemed too shocked to talk much.

The reason that she didn't like hospitals in the first place was normally the same reasons as everyone else. Hospitals were a place people went to die, they were a place that stored sick people with terrifying and painful diseases. It was a place that had a lot of bad memories and trouble for all different people. But she disliked the hospital for other reasons as well. The main reason for her was because of after the FAYZ they had been forced to stay in a hospital for weeks on end before they were finally released into their families care. They had been healed, they had been fed and they had been looked after but that didn't make it any less of a prison because they were locked up and they were not allowed to leave freely. Ever since then they had serious bad memories and she didn't like them but she preferred them to spending any more time with either Caine or Sam. It was just so much to think about at one time.

"Okay, I know the hospital isn't far from here but are we seriously going to walk?" Anna said suddenly as they stepped into the evening air.

"No. I have an idea." Astrid said.

She took the two of them down the streets and knocked on a large red wooden door. It was only a few houses down and it looked almost warm even if they could only see it from the outside. After Astrid knocked it didn't take too long for a plump looking women to answer the knocks. Anna and Diana had no idea who she was, but Astrid did. The two greeted with an extremely friendly hug before Astrid pulled away with a grin on her face.

"Good to see you, honey, but Tony isn't here I'm afraid." The woman said. Her voice was almost comically deep and Diana and Anna shared twin looks of surprise.

"Oh, I know." Astrid smiled. "You see, the problem is that my friend needs to get to the hospital." She waved to Diana. "She's badly cut her hand."

"Oh my!" The woman gasped. "Let me just grab my coat. Here, go wait in the car."

Astrid accepted the keys from the woman and pushed the other two down back to the road where a blue SUV was waiting for them. Astrid immediately climbed into the front seat and Diana and Anna climbed into the back as the woman hurried back into the house. As soon as she was gone Anna and Diana turned confused looks Astrid way until she noticed them staring.

"What?" Astrid blinked.

"At any point now are you going to tell us who this woman is?" Diana asked. She cradled her hand to her chest but was able to ignore the pain mostly.

"It's Cookie's mum." Astrid shrugged. They both had blank looks shot her way. "You two know! Cookie! The bully Caine disfigured with the cross that Lana healed later on. Her names Mrs Haddle."

"Oh... Since when have you been in contact with Cookie and his mum?" Diana snorted.

"For ages now!" Astrid snorted right back. "Ever since I called them about the book. You know I probably could have mentioned this on more than one occasion but you probably were not listening like normal when we eat."

"Oh..." Diana mumbled and leaned back in her chair just as Mrs Haddle came out of the house and almost rolled towards them, barreling into the drivers side.

"Hold on, sweetheart!" Mrs Haddle said before taking the keys back and starting the car.

The ride was clean and quick. Mrs Haddle knew exactly how to drive fast and safe, sliding in between of the other cars without actually breaking any road laws. Soon they were pulling up outside the small hospital down at the end of the street. It was rarely busy but today there was a news crew outside as well as a large ambulance with it's sirens going off loudly enough to make the girls all wince. They climbed from the vehicle, Mrs Haddle insisting on waiting for them so she could drive them home, and hurried into the hospital. As they moved closer they caught attention of quite a few people and Diana and Astrid were worried they would be recognised but if they were then there was easily something more interesting to be looked at, as they all turned away back to the ambulance.

Diana had to put up with Anna and Astrid holding her arms almost protectively and guiding her up the stairs and through the automatic front double doors. With only a quick glance around Astrid headed straight to the front desk where a woman was shuffling through paper work and chewing on the end of her pen.

"Excuse me!" Astrid said. "My friend needs help, please she's hurt."

"What's the problem?" The woman asked, only barely looking up.

"She's cut herself, she's bleeding badly." Astrid explained and forcibly held out her hand to show the wound.

The woman stared at the blood stained tea towel and the long cut on her hand for a full minute before she called a doctor over. He was lounging around with a nurse when he heard his name and hurried to take Diana from their hands. She was led through a large set of doors into a corridor and further down into another room. As she was taken away the nurse asked them to fill out and incident report, handing over a clipboard and pen.

The two girls managed to find two soft chairs either side of each other by the door and Astrid filled out the form. It was pretty standard though there were quite a few questions that she didn't know the answers to, like if she was allergic to something or anything in her history that should be noted down but she managed to write down what had happened, as in cutting herself on the glass. Anything else and then Diana could fill out the rest when she came back out.

"How long are we going to be here?" Anna asked, glancing out the window where the new crew were still hovering.

"Ready to go home?" Astrid said with a small smile and shrugged her shoulders. "I dunno, hopefully not too long but long enough for Sam and..." She glanced around nervously in case anyone happened to be listening before she leaned over and whispered. "...You-Know-Who to have a nice long talk."

Anna sighed and leaned back, glancing out the window again. "Do you know what all the fuss is about outside?"

As if to answer her question the door opened. A set of reporters and cameras flocked inside in a single rush, shouting and flashing lights, before they were being shoved out once more by some scary looking men in dark uniforms. They were still struggling to control the crowd when in between them all a man strapped down on a hospital bed was pushed inside. When Astrid saw him she gasped and stared.

He was burnt, badly. His right leg was pitch black and the rest of him was a mixture of torn and shredded clothing, crispy hair burnt to the scalp and red boiling flesh that still looked wet with his own blood covering his torso and extra limbs. As he was pushed inside, the man was screaming louder than anyone else in the room and outmatched all the shouting reporters.

"Lizard! That lizard killed by babies!" The man shrieked, his voice surprisingly strong considering how red and toasted his throat was. "It shot fire everywhere! It shot fire and killed my little girls! It killed my babies! You have to go back and catch it before it's too late! It's dangerous! A monster! A little black fire monster!"

"Oh my god..." Anna moaned and covered her mouth like she might throw up.

"Help! Please! It was a fire! That monster is still out there! You have to do something!"

He looked right at Astrid. It was hard to tell at first because one eye looked swollen and melted shut but his other eye was crazy wide and locked directly on her. She found it impossible to look away and her mouth was too dry to respond or make any sounds at all. He screamed and reached up as best as he could while they were struggling to hold him down.

"It's a monster! A monster! You have to do something! You have to do something!" His last words rung out as he was pushed through open doors and vanished.

The last of the reporters were pushed from the building doors and Astrid realised she had dropped the pen and form on the floor at her feet. Now her hands were shaking too much to pick them up and she struggled to stay calm to just breathe normally. As Anna hurried to pick the board and pen back up again Astrid forced each breath to come out calm and ease back in again. Both of them had been shaken. But only Astrid was thinking of what he had said. He claimed a fire breathing lizard set a fire and killed his daughters? At any other time Astrid would have laughed and said that was ridiculous. By any child of the FAYZ knew better than to laugh and say anything was ridiculous anymore.

But... What did that mean then?

* * *

**12) Is the burn victim serious or crazy?**

**13) If you could change something what would you change?**


	6. Chapter 6

Sam had gotten no more out of Caine than before the girls left. They had spent most of the time in silence with Caine killing everyone on screen including his virtual allies and the people that needed his help. Sam had tried talking to him but Caine clearly was not very chatty today. In the end he went and got Caine the sandwich Astrid and made him in the fridge and made his own before settling it down beside of his feet. For a moment he didn't do anything but then he was moving forward and snatching up the sandwich, taking a large bight of it and dropping half of the spread down his front. He carelessly wiped it away onto the floor and cushions and continued to play the game.

After Sam had finished eating his own he put the plate aside on the table and continued to watch his twin brother play the deadly game. Perhaps the violent game was not the best idea... But then maybe he should have just gone with Diana. Astrid was better at the talking to people than he was and so much better at getting them to talk back. How was he supposed to get Caine to tell him anything when he clearly still did not trust him at all. They had never trusted one another for most of the FAYZ but after the fight with Gaia, Sam liked to think that maybe they had grown some kind of relationship he could rely on.

There had to be something that they could bond on, something that Sam could use in order to get answers even if they were only basic answers. All he needed to know was the last thing he remembered, felt, saw, smelt and anything else from when he died to when he woke up once more. If he could find a way to get him to answer just a few of them then even a few would be leading them one step closer to knowing what was happening. Of course, that was just another thing much easier said than done. Caine was more stubborn than any other person Sam knew, including all his friends, family, Astrid and even a good few others of his enemies like Drake.

"Don't you want to know what happened to you?" Sam asked, when Caine refused his offer for a drink. "Don't you want to know how or even why?"

Caine ignored him and pressed down hard on one of the buttons, pressing it painfully hard so that one of his nails broke against the controller. He winced but didn't stop pressing the button, clenching his jaw and pursing his lips in anger. He glared at the screen like he wished it was Sam's face he could see as he shot the men down.

"I just don't understand you." Sam sighed.

"I wish you'd stop trying." Caine snarled.

"At least some people can put aside differences, I mean at least when it's their lives." Sam explained. "But you don't. You don't care even when you're the one who could be in danger or on deaths door. You're pathetic and how are we supposed to help. You know what? I don't even care anymore."

Caine turned to frown at him. It was weird when Sam gave up. Normally he was so stubborn he never gave up. And then Caine wondered why he was being so stubborn at not telling him anything, especially the dream he had. Actually he knew pretty well that the reason he was not telling Sam was because he went out of his way to keep Sam in the dark and purposely make all things harder for him. While the one person that he would be willing to talk to was avoiding him and and when she wasn't she was screaming at him.

The thought took him back to how angry he was at Diana. Maybe if she had been any other girl but not only was she meant to be tough, but let's not forget that Caine was the one who died! Okay he wasn't actually as disturbed as most people because he couldn't remember any of it but what if he had? She was being selfish and so was Sam and Astrid and that girl that was with them... What was her name? Amy? Amanda? Allie? Arica? No, that started with an E. She definitely started with an A... Oh who cared! They were all being selfish.

Suddenly Caine stood up and threw the controllers down on the table hard. There was a crash that made Sam jump and Caine turned, making his way towards the front door.

"Hey!" Sam shouted. He jumped and ran after him, throwing himself in his way. "Where do you think you're going?!"

"Out," Caine growled, trying to walk around him.

"No you're not." Sam said. "For one you're not wearing shoes, and for two you're you!"

"I'm me?" Caine snorted.

"If someone sees you then we are the ones who are going to questioned and suffer because everyone knows that you are my brother! And not to mention Diana's ex boyfriend!" Sam snapped. "You have to lay low."

"I have been dead for two years." Caine hissed. "I am going out there and you are not stopping me."

"Watch me." Sam growled.

Caine and Sam stared at one another for a moment before Caine reached over and grabbed Sam by their shoulders, spinning and throwing him as best as he could with a loud crash. He had only thought of using his powers for a second before he remembered he didn't have any left, but he was strong and he was not going to let Sam boss him around. He was not one of Sam's little soldiers and so when he wanted to go outside, he was going outside! No one was going to control him. No one was going to have their hooks in him ever again. However Sam was older and bigger than him now and only fell because he was caught off guard, falling barely an inch away from Caine. It gave him time to stick out his long leg and trip Caine up before he could anywhere.

Sam scrambled to get back up and threw himself on top of Caine, knocking him back to the ground just as he was climbing up again stopping his chance to open the door and get out quick. They collapsed to the ground on the wooden floor and struggled for a moment. Sam tried to pin Caine's arms to the ground but he couldn't get a strong enough grip on his wrists before he pulled free and was pushing back at his shoulders and chest. They struggled like that for a moment before Caine managed to knee Sam in the side and rolled him off, jumping and racing for the door. It was a lucky hit and any further seconds then he might have been pinned down.

Sam struggled for a minute, he managed to stand just as Caine opened the door. He chased him from the room and they both ran down the steps. Now Caine was getting the upper hand. Even a tiny bit smaller and he was faster, and while Sam had strong legs the turns of the stairs were slowing him down.

"Yeah!" Caine shouted in between puffs of breath as he jumped three steps at a time in his rush. "Like this won't draw attention!"

Sam cursed. He was right, that was just all the more reason not to let him out into the street.

The door smacked him in the face before he even finished the last word in his head. He was knocked backwards as Caine continued to run down the stairs and out of the building. The smack not only knocked him off of his feet, but it sent a trickle of blood down his nose and left him stunned for a few seconds before he was able to climb back up again.

"Watch where ya going! Slamming around like brats!" A woman snarled before she slammed the door shut again.

Sam moaned in pain. He rolled and began to slowly crawl down the stairs as best as he could while his head was still ringing in between his ears. By the time he somehow made it outside the building, it was clear from looking around that Caine was long gone.

"Damn it!" Sam cursed.

**G*O*N*E**

He twisted his right ankle on the very last step before he managed to stager outside. Caine didn't like running away, especially not from Sam. Too often before had he run away after a fight but he didn't have many choices unless he wanted to stay stuck in that stupid room all day. Caine needed to get out, to go about and live. Even if Sam was against it, and Sam was against most things anyway so what did it matter. But now his ankle hurt with every step and it was getting harder and harder to run away. In the end he had to hobble and hide around the corner before he knew Sam would give up on him. Either that or he would guess which way to go. Just in case he guessed right Caine hurried down until he was walking down a street and he was able to hurry inside one of the small corner shops.

Inside it was nearly empty. There was the shop keeper behind the tills and a teenage kid in the corner looking at the sweets and the cokes. Caine hurried over to the magazines section and buried his face in a gossip magazine with a beautiful soap couple on the front. He didn't notice Sam at all but that could mean he passed when he wasn't looking.

His feet were still bare, they both hurt along the sole and his ankle was still making him limp but otherwise he was feeling good now. The fresh air was nice, the wind was calming and any aching bones he had left were long gone completely now. Caine grinned at the feeling of being so great and happy again. It had been a while. It had been so long since he had felt this good. And Sam had wanted to keep him locked up in his home. What an idiot. Now he could explore, maybe he could even find some fitting clothes though he didn't actually have any money on him... Damn, should have taken some when Sam wasn't looking. Then he could have at least gotten some chocolate or a drink.

Just as he thought this he noticed just how busy it was now. Everyone had left school and their work place and were heading home. The streets were slowly getting crowded, more and more people wandered passed the shop windows. Quite a few teenagers and kids were running back and forth with chips in their hands and riding bikes with their friends. No one came into the shop though it was clear the teenager was stealing but it was none of Caine's business.

Now that he was out he knew what a bad idea this was. His clothes were too big, he had no shoes or socks, his ankle twisted and his face so recognisable. They were going to see him and a few would know who he was... Caine knew he was wrong but he wasn't going to be heading back to admit it. The day Caine admitted to Sam that he was wrong was the day Drake came back as an angel and apologised to everyone for the pain he caused. But he would have to do something...

Caine put the magazine back and headed for the door just as the shop clerk caught the boy stealing. He walked quickly down the street and towards the nearest clothing store. It was a second hand charity shop but that was actually better than a high running brand name store. Once inside he glanced around but the woman behind the desk was so engrossed in a book she didn't even glance his way. Caine hurried to the corner, waited and then snatched a thick brown coat before he left the building as quickly as he could. He wasn't seen and after quickly ripping off the price tag then pulling on the coat. He guessed more than he knew that no one would glance at him with the hood up, though it left him hot and stuffy in the warm weather. Now he needed shoes. The shoe shop was far too watchful, three store clerks kept eyes on the door and every other part of the store. Plus all the shoes had tags on that would give off an alarm and seriously give him away. But outside they had shoes in baskets for people to see and Caine somehow managed to slip out two shoes. They were odd shoes. One was dark brown and the other was black and they were both left shoes but Caine could suffer in silence.

He stopped on a bench and pulled the two shoes on his bare feet, tying them quickly before he stood up and pulled the hood further over his face. Now his limp was more noticable with the left shoe on the right foot but you couldn't be picky.

Now if he could only find some money, he might be able to buy real shoes or even some food or drink. He passed a chip shop and his mouth watered but he had nothing on him. He considered bullying some of the younger kids to give him their money but he was worried they would run home and tell their parents...

... Then he remembered they had no idea who he was and he would be long gone by the time they found him again.

Caine was careful to select two children that were extremely young and wore clothes their parents obviously picked out for them. They were already heading to the chip shop as Caine walked over and grabbed the two of them from behind, pushing them around a corner where they would not be seen. Both of them shouted, startled before they were slammed against a wall into silence.

"Listen up!" Caine snarled. "I'm hungry! I need money! You have money! Give it if you want to keep your faces intact."

They shared a look, gulped and then held out their money. They each had a two pound each and Caine happily accepted. When he had their money he pushed the two aside and shot them a nasty look that sent them running home. Five minutes later Caine left the shop with a large bag of chips in his hand, eating them covered in salt and vinegar with a coke can in his new coat pocket. The chips tasted fantastic and Caine let out a moan of satisfaction as he limped down the street, rounding the corners at random just to walk away from all the people. With the coat on quite a few people caught glimpse of him but after a quick glance they didn't look again, even when he was wearing clothes that didn't match the weather.

Caine had no idea where he was going and after only a few steps he was completely lost but he didn't mind. He would be happier if he was lost completely. Then Sam couldn't find him and neither could the screaming Diana or the smart mouth Astrid. It was better to be away from them because then he could think and then he could make sense of his own mind rather than have to answer all their questions that he didn't know the answers to in the first place.

Caine continued eating his chips until he was full, then he threw the bag down on the ground, not caring about littering. He pulled out his can, opened it and took several gulps of the cool drink. It was lovely! He was loving it! Caine grinned and drank half of it in only three more gulps when something caused him to pull to a stop.

A house, badly burnt down with people roping it off and slowly breaking it down because it was going to fall anyway. It was pitch black and barely standing. A group of men were slowly dragging the rubble away and throwing it out of their way into large trucks and bins. The whole place was a mess and Caine was shocked by how badly it was burned, still smoking slightly. Caine had no idea what had caused the fire but something from the corner of his eye told him it wasn't over yet. There was a gentle flame on an old wrapper.

Caine walked over and stamped on it hard to put it out.

It was like steps. Step one, he started to wandered around, step two he saw the house, step three he saw the fire, and step four he heard a scuttling that caught his interest. Turning, still with the coke in hand, Caine made his way into the alley, frowning. No idea, apart from common curiosity, what was drawing him further.

He heard the scuttling sound again and squinted into the shadows beside of a large dirty bin and saw something...

It was a lizard. Well it looked like one. Caine hadn't seen very many lizards in his time, mostly the ones he had seen were green and in zoos but this one had a similar shape to a lizard only with four toes on it's front hands and five toes on it's back. It had a long tail, short nose, large black eyes and a black body only with yellow spots covering it, much like a dalmatian. So it was a black lizard with yellow polka dots. Because that was normal. Not!

Caine blinked and shook his head. Where the hell had Sam claimed a home? What kind of country had weird lizards?

He made to turn and head off again when something else caused him to turn. And he turned just in time to see the lizard open it's mouth and send a whirlwind of fire towards him. Caine roared and threw the coke at the fire in a weak attempt at protection before he threw himself down to the side, a splash of mud hitting his torso. Caine scrambled onto all fours and looked over as the lizard turned to face him and actually glared. It actually glared at him. And then it was opening it's mouth and shrieking like... Like a little girl? A yellow polka dot lizard who shot fire from its mouth and sounded like a girl? What the hell was wrong with this place?!

The lizard made another scream like a girl and more fire shot from it's mouth in laser beams much like Sam's old light attack. It was aimed right at him!

Caine shouted and scrambled on his hands and knees towards the mouth of the alley way. He barely avoided the burn marks that did catch the back of his coat. He heard more than felt the flames burning and ripped off his coat, throwing it behind him because he didn't have time to stamp the flames out. He just scrambled out of the alleyway when he heard the roar of flames coming from behind him again. Caine lay down and rolled out of the way of the flames, stumbling and falling into the road in his rush to run away.

The car appeared before Caine had a chance to hear it. He could still hear, smell and feel the flames around of him and was distracted. He only notice the BMW when it was crushing his ribs and smacking his head against the glass hard enough for it to crack under the pressure. He felt the blood and dizziness rocked his mind, he squinted long enough to see the lizard running down the path at an incredibly speed for such a little creature. Then he blacked out.

**G*O*N*E**

"He is so obviously crazy." Diana snorted, climbing into the car and slamming the door angrily behind of her. The doctor had asked her so many questions even some that didn't have to do with her injury, the hospital stunk of medicines and the feel of the atmosphere was awkward. She hated hospitals so much.

"I don't think so..." Astrid whispered, she had squeezed in the back so that they could talk quietly but Diana wasn't bothering to keep her voice down.

"He was burned beyond recognition!" Diana snapped. "He just lost his daughters! Of course he was losing his mind."

"Anna, what do you think?" Astrid argued.

Anna glanced up from where she had been sandwiched in the middle and tried to shrink down in her seat so they could not ask her that very question. Now she had no choice but to voice her opinion. And either way, one of the girls pressed against her was going to be pissed with her.

"Um..." Anna swallowed. "Well... He _did _just lose his daughters. Maybe he wasn't thinking clearly. Or maybe he thought he saw something that he didn't. Maybe he thought it was a lizard when instead it was a..." She fell silent.

"A what?" Astrid snapped, annoyed Anna wasn't backing her up. "A cat with a flame thrower? A dog with a lighter? Or how about a penguin with a match stick?!"

"No need to lose it just because not everyone agrees with your delusional conspiracy theories!" Diana snapped.

Astrid scowled and leaned close. "And what about You-Know-Who? You think it's a coincident that he shows up just as that man gets attacked by something like a monster fire breathing creature that resembles a reptile?" She leaned back and crossed her arms stubbornly. "Fine if you don't believe me then I'll ask Sam what he thinks!"

"Good luck with that." Diana snorted.

"Uh, well it's late." Anna said, leaning forward before either of them could start fighting again. "Mrs Haddle? Could you drop me off home? I don't want my family to worry..." She leaned back and couldn't resist mumbling; "And I'd rather not be there if Sam doesn't immediately agree with you."

"What is that supposed to mean?" Astrid snapped.

Anna chose this point to pretend not to hear and look out the window on Diana's side. It was a slow ride but Astrid gave up pestering her. She at least was satisfied that Sam would surely believe her. Maybe another day and they might both be unsure but after Caine just dropped out of nowhere, Astrid was sure these things were related. She was sure that this was something to do with that and she needed some kind of support on the matter.

By the time they dropped off Anna, Astrid was building frustration. Diana kept rubbing her stitches gently with her finger which seemed to grate Astrid's nerves even more. It irritated her more than she realised and she couldn't wait to get home to Sam and see how far he got with Caine. Maybe he got some more answers out of him in some way that would help them or at least get Astrid thinking long enough to forget her anger.

Mrs Haddle was friendly for the whole time. She didn't even ask any questions and clearly tried hard to ignore their obviously suspicious conversation. She smiled, asked Diana if she was okay, made sure Astrid was okay, waited for Anna to enter her door before she drove off and for the rest of the drive she let them think in silence. When she dropped them up to their home, she offered to wait for them to go inside too.

"It's okay. We need to talk outside for a moment before we go in." Astrid said. "Thanks again, if you need any help then just let me know and I'll do anything as a thank you. I'll even scrub toilets."

Mrs Haddle laughed. "I'll remember that. You may regret it."

Astrid watched her go before she turned to Diana. "Right. Now we need to talk about your attitude."

"My what?" Diana growled, getting ready to explode.

"You are the only person he is going to talk to. You are the only one he trusts and the only one who he will really explain it all to in the first place. So even if you are angry or scared or any of the above you need to control yourself so that we can work out what is going on and hopefully stop it." Astrid explained. "Please, for me, just-"

"Hello, ladies."

Both Astrid and Diana shut their eyes and winced. They knew that voice all too well. It was much more familiar than either of them wanted it to be. It spoke to them at least once a day and they saw the owner of the voice prowling around at least twice a day outside their apartment watching them. For all the events they forgot about him and hoped he wouldn't show up. Now here he was, bugging them all over again.

"Ripley." Astrid sighed.

"Long time no see." Diana chimed, all but glaring at him.

* * *

**14) Someone in the books hit Caine. Who?**

**15) What character would you want to be in Light?**


	7. Chapter 7

"How are you two ladies?" Ripley asked, walking towards them in long strides.

Diana grumbled angry words under her breath that not even she knew what they were meant to be.

Ripley was the worst kind of bad guy. Because he didn't look like a bad guy. In fact he looked like a kind police officer dressed in the dark blue uniform with the badge on his chest, the small cell phone strapped to his waist so he could use it to call for help if needed and a small black bat like object that neither of the girls had ever seen him use. Another thing was the notebook and pen in his top pocket that they had also never seen him so much as touch. He was quite big and muscular, bulky in the shoulders, but otherwise skinny in the waist with pale skin, high cheekbones, thin lips, a chin dimple and dark green eyes. His hair was such a dark brown that it looked black and was swept back on his head with a clean shave and a big smile that showed each and everyone of his pearly white teeth.

As he approached them, Astrid wondered if they could quickly run inside and avoid him like so many other times before when he had come strolling passed. But as if he read her mind he stepped in between the door and Astrid, blocking her way and making her have no choice but to look up at him.

"You okay?" Ripley asked again when they didn't answer him before.

Astrid glanced over at Diana but she was still growling in some angry alien made up language with a look ready to kill. It seemed mumbling angry made up words to herself was the only way she was restraining herself from attacking him. Astrid couldn't blame her.

"We're fine." Astrid said with stiff teeth and forced politeness. Getting angry and throwing a fit did nothing but earn you time in his office while he lectured you about manners, as Sam had learned many times before. But that didn't make it any easier.

"That's good. I was kind of worried. You see I got a call in for these very buildings that were complaining about you lot. Apparently there was a lot of fighting, shouting and banging coming from your room and then there was a stampede coming down the stairs that upset a lot of people who were trying to relax. Miss McKlusky was really scared. She called me nearly in tears because she didn't know what to do. Poor woman didn't even know what was happening." Ripley sighed and shook his head like a disappointed father. "Poor, poor woman." He repeated.

The two girls shared glances before they looked back at him and waited.

"I came over and checked upstairs. Door wide open and no one was home. The place was suddenly completely quiet with no one home and I was even more concerned and all of you. You girlie's want to tell me what happened?" They said nothing. "No? Come on. I just want answers to give to Miss McKlusky and the rest of the frightened people in the apartment. What about you, Pumpkin?"

Astrid winced at the nickname and scowled up at him. Her patients (and her politeness along with it) was quickly leaving her. "How should we know anything? You literally just saw us come home. We've been out all day."

Ripley nodded and looked at Diana. "What about you, Princess?"

"My name is not Princess!" Diana snarled. "And you better not have entered our room! You had no right!"

"I had every right. I was worried to see the door wide open after someone called in a disturbance." He put fake concern on his face and looked back and forth between the two of them. "What if one of you had been hurt? I had to make sure everything and everyone was okay in there?"

"How did you know it was from our room?" Diana snapped. "There's a floor above us and plenty of other residence all on the third floor. And we're not even above Miss McKlusky so how did you know it was our room where the noise was being made when it could have been anyone? Even with the door open that doesn't actually mean anything. So what made you think of us?"

Ripley turned to her and grinned. He then ignored her and faced Astrid, not answering her question. "Where's Torches?"

Astrid wanted to slap him. "I don't know. Like I said. We just came home. Maybe _Sam _is still at work. Or maybe he went for a walk. Or maybe something came up and he had to leave."

After a moment of glaring at one another, Ripley shrugged his shoulders. "Is there anything you two can tell me about what happened?"

"How? I already told you. We weren't here!" Astrid said, losing her temper. "You know, why don't you just come back later when Sam is home. We all know you're going to pass our house again anyway because you always do, so when you do decide to wander passed then maybe try knocking and waiting for us to answer the door this time. Maybe if we're in good moods we'll let you in and Sam can answer any questions you have for him. Though if he isn't here now then I doubt he'll know much more than us."

"I think I'll just do that." Ripley whispered. He stared at her emotionless before he grinned and showed all his teeth again. It was amazing how he looked so much like a tiger when he did that.

"Oh shove off!" Diana snarled.

Astrid had just started another glaring contest with Ripley that Diana joined in for only a few seconds before she was grabbing Astrid and pulling her inside. Astrid resisted for not even a second longer before she had shaken free of Diana and was running for the stairs. She was careful to be out of sight before she began running even though he could probably heard her footsteps slamming away anyway.

She had to get up the stairs. She had to see Sam and make sure everything was okay even though Ripley had already told her that no one was home.

The first thought in her mind was that Caine had somehow gotten his powers back like he said he would and attacked Sam while they were gone, then maybe dragged him from the room and threw him in a rubbish bin like the common trash he thought he was. The second thought was that Drake or Gaia had appeared like Caine and had attacked both of them, not even leaving ashes behind after they had destroyed them. And the last thought was that the Fire Breathing Lizard monster had found the two of them and had attacked them in the same way it had attacked the man and his daughters.

She didn't care when none of them made any sense. She didn't care that if the lizard had been here then it would have burned the whole place down. All she cared about was that something had happened and she needed to be there for Sam in case something else happened.

As she rounded up the stairs she threw herself into their apartment. Ripley hadn't even bothered to shut the door behind of him and Astrid barreled inside the room with both of her legs screaming in agony. It was hard enough walking up the stairs but running left her wanting to collapse. But she couldn't just yet.

It looked the same. There were a few plates out and a bit of a mess but nothing much that would suggest a struggle of any kind. In fact if the door hadn't been wide open then Astrid would have assumed Ripley was making it up to mess with their heads. Sam should have been there with Caine. Where was he?

"CAINE?!" Diana called, not caring who heard. "Are you here?!"

"They're not here." Astrid sighed. She didn't bother to look around. They had made enough noise to bring them out if they were there.

"Then where are they?" Diana moaned. "Caine can't just go out and about like this. He'll get seen."

"Something must have happened." Astrid whispered.

"What?" Diana demanded. Now she was looking to Astrid the Genius for answers and that scared Astrid as much as it did Diana.

"I don't know... Let me try and call Sam." Astrid said. She hurried over to the house phone and picked it up off of the wall. Soon it was placed to her ear and she listened to the gentle ringing tone until after ten exact rings, someone picked up on the other line. "Sam?"

"Astrid? Is that you?" He sounded exhausted.

"What happened? Where are you and Caine?" Astrid demanded as Diana walked over and stood close enough so they could both listen.

"It's... It's a long story." Sam sounded nervous.

"Okay, well where are you? I'll come and meet you." Astrid offered. She glanced at Diana who looked scared and smaller than before.

There was a short silence for a moment. "I'm in Quinn's car. We're looking for Caine. I sort of lost him."

Astrid's mind drew a blank and she fell silent for a moment. She glanced at Diana but by her lack of changing expression it seemed she couldn't hear what he had just said.

"Sam... Are you serious?" Astrid said through gritted teeth.

"Look! He caught me off guard and took off! I lost him, okay?!" Sam sounded tired and angry. Under the angry was fear. She could hear it.

"Okay. Come pick us up." Astrid sighed. "We'll help."

"Okay."

Astrid hung up without a real goodbye and hurried to the bedroom where she changed into a pair of loose grey track suits and a white top. It was getting colder and she wanted to be ready to run in the dark. The sun was setting and they had no idea how long it would take before they found him. So she packed a flashlight and pulled on some trainers while Diana still hovered in the doorway, unsure of what happened on the phone.

"Go get dressed in something comfortable." Astrid said as she packed her brown shoulder bag again. "Caine ran off and we have to find him before he gets hurt."

Diana was frozen for just a second before she was running to her room so fast she nearly smacked into the door. The two of them changed and locked the doors this time as they left. They waited outside in silence but when Astrid glanced her way she could see the fear and horror in Diana's eyes. She was terrified. She was guilty. Astrid could see she was feeling bad for screaming at Caine before and now she was desperate to find him and be sure he was okay.

"What if we can't find him?" Diana whispered.

"Of course we will." Astrid said. "Caine's too stubborn to leave us in peace."

**G*O*N*E**

When Caine next opened his eyes he was in a dark room. It wasn't pitch black but the curtains were drawn and it was hard to see without squinting and even then he only saw rough shapes and blurred lines. He didn't move from where he was lying on - what he assumed was - a bed but when he did move his head slightly to the side he felt a burst of pains and aches much like when he had woken up to find Astrid and Anna leaning over him, only now he was staring at a blank ceiling in a room all alone. After much painful head turning to see if he could shake off the pains like before (he could not), he squinted his eyes ahead and gave a few confused glances around. He was able to guess a lot of what happened to be in the room with him. He was on a bed, the door in the corner, window on the other side with curtains drawn, a chest of draws and a large cupboard on the far end away from his feet.

Every move he made was a careful one. His ribs hurt along with his head and a good portion of his body. Most of it was aching but his ribs actually felt broken and his head was hot from inside out. Caine pushed himself until he was sitting up on the corner of the bed and staring at the door in front of him. He tried to stand but instantly regretted it and sat back down again in a heap but the pain was worse when he bounced down and sent shocks through his torso. He sat frozen for a few seconds as the pain subsided before he moved in perfect slow motion, standing and half limping, half falling towards of the door. Only when he grabbed it his head spun and he could see himself falling down before he even made it out the room. He leaned against the wall and took several slow breaths but he couldn't even take proper deep breathes because that hurt too.

"Oh God..." Caine moaned. He felt like he was going to throw up but he didn't dare because to leave over with his head pounding would cause him to black out completely.

The breaths were cold in his throat and he felt like he wasn't getting enough air. He wanted to fight and stay up, to get out and figure out where he was but it was too much. He was dizzy, tired and sick and he needed to lie down before the pain caused him to just crumble and collapse on the floor in a heap. Somehow he managed to get himself back on the bed and lying down.

It was hard to tell but Caine might have fallen back asleep, it was so dark in the room so he might have just been lying with his eyes half open. Only then the door opened and Caine hissed and squinted at the sudden burst of light coming from outside. A shape blocked the light and quickly shut the door again.

"Sorry," a woman's voice whispered. "Sorry, so sorry. I brought you something to eat and drink and some ice for your bruises."

"Wha... Who... When... Who are you?" Caine moaned. He tried to sit up but immediately gave up on that idea.

"My name is Abana Baidoo." The woman whispered with a smile on her face.

**G*O*N*E**

"I just don't see how you could lose him. You're twice his size, older, and yet he throws you across the room and then knees you hard enough to leave you pathetic as a crumple on the floor." Diana snorted. "I seriously cannot understand what is wrong with you!"

"Diana, shut up!" Sam snapped. "He didn't throw me across the room, he tripped me up. And he kneed a sensitive area so sorry if I didn't immediately jump back up."

Quinn was staying silent for most of this. His mother was following his league. Astrid had squished in the middle and was now actually feeling sorry for Anna from earlier. Now she was stuck between Diana and Sam as they argued over whose fault it was. Diana said Sam shouldn't have let him go so easily and Sam was telling Diana that if she hadn't been screaming then she wouldn't have had to leave and Caine would never have left in the first place.

In between all the screaming Quinn repeatedly sent Astrid looks of pity and Astrid tried to slide down and disappear between the leather seats. It seemed like an awkward time to bring up the monster lizard even though Astrid was desperate to hear Sam's opinion. She would have to tell him later. After they had found Caine and hopefully before the police and news crew did. Oh God, Ripley had watched videos of the FAYZ constantly. He knew exactly what Caine looked like and none of them wanted Ripley to have any more excuses to hurt any of them.

Quinn wasn't feeling much better. Just moments before Astrid had called Sam, he had been shouting at Sam for not telling him earlier about Caine when he had dropped him off just that evening. He claimed he was just trying to make sense of it but somehow it felt like the FAYZ all over again when he had the power and he never told his best friend. As the years had gone on they had somehow remained friends again but somehow this secret seemed to bring back all resentful feelings and he wondered if they could ever be as close as they were again. But it was hard to keep telling him off with Diana doing it for him and Astrid looking extremely uncomfortable in between the two of them.

"Where are we suppose to be searching? He could be anywhere!" Diana shouted.

"Let's think like Caine." Astrid insisted, hoping to bring some peace and thought to the people in the car. "He comes back and now he's looking around a random street. What would he do?"

"How should I know?" Sam grumbled.

Every eye turned to look at Diana. She noticed but purposely didn't react and instead tried to think. She knew Caine best so it was up to her to think where he would go.

"Diana?" Astrid pressed.

"I'm thinking." Diana hissed.

They all fell silent once more. Quinn's mother was driving in circles all around town and half of her wanted to suggest pulling over until they had an idea but at the same time while the three were thinking in the back, her and her son were keeping eyes out in case they came across him.

"It's hard to say." Diana said finally. "Mostly he'd probably wander and get a look of the place but he might see about food or a drink."

"It's not much..." Astrid mumbled.

"It's a start." Sam said firmly. He leaned forward, "Could you take us to the town centre?"

"On my way." Quinn's mother said with a smile.

**G*O*N*E**

It was hungry.

Not for food.

It was hungry for chaos.

The lizard slithered down the pathway and glanced with beady black eyes left and right before it turned and made it's way further down the street. It had no idea where it was going, it had no idea where anything in the world even was, just that it needed to follow this pathway because a path led to people and people led to pain. Pain was sweet and satisfying. Pain was it's food.

The further it walked the more excited it got because it saw people. It saw things. Some part of it found itself drawn to the women around it, mostly the young girls barely older than children. It supposed it was a female of sorts. But it wasn't. It was an it, something these things could not understand. These things, these humans were nothing more than toys. They were food. They were screams that needed to be heard. It needed to make them scream and feed from their fear and their pain.

The lizard glanced around and spotted a teenage boy. No more than fifteen trying to light a cigarette while glancing nervously around the corner where fellow teenagers were already lounging and smoking. As the lizard crawled closer, it saw his eyes were particularly stuck on one of the girls who laughed and flicked her cigarette with such casual waves that she must have been smoking for years now. The boy hurried and continued to try and light his cigarette.

Maybe it should help the boy.

The lizard opened it's mouth and directed towards the boy. A female shriek already building in it's own throat as it prepared to let go of the flames building inside of it's small body. The boy... The handsome dark haired one had escaped. This boy... This skinny shaking boy would not.

The fire was in it's mouth. It was burning it's tongue in such a pleasurable way and ready to release every burn to melt this boys skin down to the bone...

... And then a light appeared. They were standing beside of an empty lobby of a run down flat or hotel. It was practically falling apart and there could only be one - if any - people still living in there but the light was coming from the open door. It came in a beam like lasers, bright and painfully hot like the lizard's fire but this was different. The light burnt the boy's elbow and he shrieked in pain, dropping his things before he fell out into the open where the other teenagers gathered.

The lizard, it turned it's head. She turned her head. She looked into the doors and scowled at those who had threatened her prey. The light, it seemed familiar. It seemed so familiar...

It was dog. A German Shepard. A big one at that with soft brown fur and frightening unnatural eyes. It stepped forward let out a bark and a growl that was directed towards the lizard. She stepped forward and prepared a flame of fire straight ahead when the dog opened it's own mouth and light came. It was meters away from scolding her scaled flesh and she hurried backwards out of his range. The dog growled but stepped back. It wasn't after a fight. It wasn't trying to kill her it was just protecting it's home. A territorial light breathing dog.

The lizard sneered and turned, hurrying away. She wasn't stupid enough to pick a fight with the dog. No, she was just going to continue to travel and kill.

Why fight a dog when there were so many people to hear scream as their skin burned.

She didn't give the dog a second thought.

* * *

**16) What do you think of the dog? **

**17) Was there anything that really shocked you in Light?**


	8. Chapter 8

**'Guest' pointed out to me about how none of them were driving. So I answer why they're not in this chapter :) I hope it satisfies you.**

* * *

Caine let Abana changed the thin bandage around his head and checked to make sure his bruise and cut was no longer bleeding as badly as before. His head was swollen on one side, and the cut ran directly under his hairline, but otherwise it was nowhere near as bad as it could have been. When she had hit him with her car when he appeared out of nowhere his head had badly damaged her window and even more badly damaged his head. She explained to him how she was a doctor. She had worked in a serious hospital before the FAYZ but after that she had taken to a smaller doctors office where she mostly worked on her own with minor injuries. After she had given him a look over on the streets she had quickly confirmed that he had three cracked ribs along his side where her bumper had hit him, which was actually a miracle considering how hard she had hit him.

"Your name sounds familiar." Caine mumbled as she placed an ice pack against the bruise over his cracked ribs to ease some of his pain.

Apparently she had been checking on him every hour to make sure he was still alive and had woken him up but just barely. Now he lay on the bed as the older woman eased some of his pain. He was so thankful he didn't even care about seeming weak. Right now she was easing the pain away and it had been a long time since he had been in such pain that just wouldn't go away. It was the worse kind of pain as well, a slow low aching that left him wanting to moan and whimper with tears in his eyes.

"Does it?" Abana whispered. She was concentrating on applying the right pressure to the right spot in order to help him but she was still paying attention. She knew exactly what he was saying and Abana had a pretty good guess as to what was coming next.

"Daidoo..." Caine whispered. He didn't know it, but some part of him felt the emotion behind her next answer. "Do you have any kids?"

She was silent for a moment and slowly moved around to the chest of draws where she had set everything to leave her hands free. As she turned she began to wet some more bandages even though she didn't need anymore for him. She had changed his head and torso bandages already but she just needed to be facing away from him and doing something else as she answered.

"A Daugh-" Her voice catched in her throat but she forced herself to continue until it was out. "-Ter."

Caine finally caught on. "She isn't around anymore, is she?"

"... Dahra died in the FAYZ." She was shaking so much the water in the bowl she had prepared gently spilled over. For a moment she held her hands under as she squeezed the bandages but then turned and her face was emotionless as she could make it. Her eyes were glazed over with tears and she began to use cold water against a bruise on his arm even though it was one of his most minor ones.

"I knew her." Caine whispered. Now his chest was tight which made breathing even worse than it had been before. "She was our doctor. She helped a lot of kids."

"Dahra was a good girl!" Abana gasped, breathing deeply as she washed his arm needlessly.

"She was." Caine whispered back.

They were both silent for a moment. Caine hadn't thought of Dahra very much apart from maybe the first day when she had been the only one to step forward and help Cookie after he had seriously injured him. But she had stayed in Perdido Beach rather than travel to the Lake with Sam. She had continued to act as a nurse of sorts, mostly helping kids out who had minor wounds so that they wouldn't go and disturb Lana constantly and pissing the Healer off. Dahra had put up with a lot of whining, a lot of complaining and a lot of tears. She had been strong. Caine hadn't actually realised she had been killed until this moment. He offered his own moment of silence for her even if it was because her mother was now taking care of him.

"You helped me out." Caine noted after a long silence when she finally released his arm. "I mean... Why am I at your home and not..."

"A hospital?" Abana seemed relieved to change the subject and awkward silence. Her eyes still were very teary but now she was able to think about other things and distract herself. "Because I guessed as much. I saw who you were right as you ran out into my car and I knew who you were and what you did as well as what you confessed to at the end. So I knew you would cause quite a bit of trouble if I took you somewhere so public. Luckily there was hardly anyone around and those that were seemed convinced I was going to help you when I got you in my car. Maybe if you want I can take you to a hospital but I'm fully qualified to take care of you."

"No. It's good here." Caine smirked. "Better than being taken and treated like a freak monster." He looked straight at her.

Abana Daiboo looked very much like her daughter. She had the same dark skin and matching dark brown eyes with thick eyelashes and thick lips. Her hair was a dark brown colour, not too much darker than her skin, and it was gathered up on her head into a short pony tail on the top of her head with a few strands framing either side of her worn smile. She had a nice smile but it seemed strained, probably from the talk of her daughter. She had a few lines and bags along her skin from stress and age but it just made her seem so much more trusting. She was dressed in plain white top and a plain white skirt that reached down to her ankles and wore no shoes or socks in the room. Caine noticed his own shoes that he had stolen had been removed and placed in the corner of the room out the way while the rest of his clothes remained the same. The only change was that she had to push up his top to get to his chest.

When she had gotten food and water down him she had turned on the light, covering his eyes and slowly letting him get used to the brightness first.

The room must have been Dahra's. Otherwise it had been remodelled to resemble Dahra's room, or something like that, maybe Dahra had a sister who wasn't there at the moment. It was definitely a girls room. Light purple walls, dark purple carpter. The cabinets and draws were all a dark or light purple and so were the curtains and the bed itself that he was lying on. Caine chose not to ask about the room. He didn't want to upset her anymore than she already was, at least not while she was taking care of him.

"So... How long before I can leave?" Caine asked, he pushed up onto his elbows but didn't move any further. Already the pain was too much.

"Well cracked ribs shouldn't take too long before you can move. But to move with out pain will probably take a month or so by the looks of the damage." Abana explained. "You have hit your head which, by the looks of things, has given you a concussion so you will need to rest a bit more while I monitor you to make sure you don't slip into a coma."

"So how long before I'm up and about?" Caine asked again, confused.

"Maybe two weeks to a month before you can move. Two months before the discomfort leaves you." Abana said. "It also depends on the person."

"Two weeks? You gotta be kidding!" Caine snarled.

"Maybe next time you'll look both ways." Abana said with a small smile.

"I was running..." Caine mumbled, lying back and rubbing his head as he tried to remember. "I was running from something. I ran from a... It was a lizard. At least I thought it was. But this lizard was attacking it, it breathed fire and was trying to kill me."

Abana gave a patronizing smile. "It's okay. You hit your head."

"No. It's real. I saw it. It attacked me." Caine growled. He didn't like to be laughed at. "That was why I ran out into the road. Because it was chasing me."

Abana just nodded her head. Caine could tell she didn't believe him. That pissed him off slightly and he wished he could get up and go find Diana or Sam but he was still too injured. But he couldn't wait two weeks. He needed to contact them now. Even if it was just to let them know he was okay, he had to find a way to talk to them or something. Maybe they had a phone...

"You have a phone, right?" Caine asked.

"Yes. You probably want to call someone." Abana nodded.

"Well, yeah, but I don't know their numbers." Caine groaned. It was really ridiculous how screwed he was.

"Maybe I can find out. Who is it you want to call?" Abana asked.

"My brother I guess..." Caine grumbled. He would rather have called Diana or even Astrid but Sam was probably much easier to contact. "Sam Temple."

"I'll see if I can find him." Abana turned and left the room. It should be easy enough actually, she still had Connie's number and hopefully she would know where her son was. She was in the doorway when she stopped and looked back. "Just stay here."

Caine rolled his eyes at that. Where else was he going to go? But within seconds of her leaving he realised how bored he was and began to consider trying to get up again. It took a lot of control to stay in the bed and not struggle to so much as go to the window. Maybe he should have asked Abana to open the curtains for him, not that it would make much difference because it looked to be just as dark outside as it was inside but maybe he might get a chance to watch the stars.

He shut his eyes, decided to nap but instead all he could think of was the lizard that had attacked him in the alley near the burned down building. He needed to ask Astrid about it. She was the smart girl who would know if one of those things were real or if he was losing his mind. And if she said he was losing his mind then he would throw her out the window. He didn't want to be told he was losing his mind and he refused to accept it. He knew what he had seen anyway so all he needed was an explanation of how and why it had happened.

Sleep came. Maybe because it was dark, maybe he had a concussion or maybe it was just because there was nothing else for him to do but finally sleep came to him. It didn't help that the room and the house was wonderfully warm and comfortable. The problem was that his aches wanted the cold and instead the heat was leaving him both tired and comfortable but also aching over most of his bruises. He was woken every hour but Abana only did it to check that she could wake him before she left him alone again. She never told him if she had contacted Sam or anything, just woke him up and left him to sleep again.

And just like before... He dreamt of Little Pete.

**G*O*N*E**

"We can't find him." Quinn's mother said after long hours of searching. "It's late. You'll have to try again tomorrow at some point."

"Don't you have to work?" Astrid blinked at her.

"Yes, but I can just get the bus in. Quinn can take the car around with the rest of you for the morning and some of the afternoon." She explained.

"Mum, you sure?" Quinn blinked. Even he was shocked by this. Never before had she let him use her car when she needed it for work.

"Of course." She smiled at him. "Go find your friend."

Quinn grinned - chosing not to point out that Caine was not his friend - and looked back at the others. They smiled at him. It would be good to have Quinn around for the morning to drive them. None of them actually owned a car, nor did they have any licenses to drive one. They might have but between their work and jobs and extra activities they needed to work on they didn't have the time, nor the money, for driving in any form. Astrid and Sam didn't mind too much because the places they went to weren't actually as far and all they could think of were the problems it would case (particular Ripley hounding them and the cars being trashed by FAYZ haters). Diana, however, was personally saving up a secret fund which she would be using for the lessons and the test before she got the actual car. Already she could imagine it. A red porche with the top down and fine black leather seats on a hot summer day driving in the wind.

Sam however wasn't thinking of cars or feeling good. He wanted to keep searching, keep looking for him and finding Caine where ever he had run off to. It was Sam's fault Caine was missing in the first place and it just made him so angry that they were giving up already. But he couldn't push Quinn's mother or Quinn to keep looking if they were clearly tired. So silently he decided to wait until they dropped him off and continue to search on his own two feet. That way Astrid and Diana could also head back and get some rest too.

When they were outside their apartment they climbed out the car, all taking time to thank Quinn's mother and him for the ride. Then the three of them stood outside and watched the car drive off, heading home, before they turned to face one another, shivering now.

"We should go in." Astrid sighed when they stood outside for a few moments longer.

"You guys go on in." Sam said, glancing around the streets. "I'm gonna look around for a bit more out here."

"What? Sam it's almost pitch black out here now. You're not going to find him, not if we couldn't find him with Quinn. Come on. Let's go inside and we'll continue looking tomorrow after we've rested up and the sun's come up." Astrid said, trying to take his hand and lead him inside.

"Tomorrow could be too late." Sam insisted, pulling his hand free.

"Sam's right!" Diana nodded firmly. "I'll come with you." She offered.

"No. You two go on inside. That way if he does come back on his own then you two can give me a call and I'll head back home. And he'll have a better reason to come back if he knows your here, Diana." Sam insisted. "Just let me look around for a bit. I'll check the streets a bit more in case he's going somewhere we've already looked or maybe he's nearby and lost."

Diana looked like she wanted to argue with him but she saw reason behind what he was saying and kept silent in a grudging way. Astrid just didn't look happy with the idea of Sam running around after dark at all.

"Astrid, I won't stay out long. Just a little stroll. I promise." Sam nodded. "No more than two or three hours maybe."

"One hour." Astrid warned him.

"Okay, okay, one to two hours and I'll be back." Sam was with a gentle laugh.

"You better." Astrid grumbled and stepped forward to give him a kiss.

"I'll be back." Sam promised when they pulled away. He kissed her cheek once more before he began to walk down the street.

Astrid and Diana watched him go. They waited until he was out of sight before they entered the apartment and took the long walk up the stairs towards the third floor. By the time they reached the top and entered their apartment, both of them were feeling as cold as they did outside if not colder. Astrid barely paid attention when she stepped inside the room and pressed the answering machine out of habit.

Diana sat down and curled into a ball in the corner, trying to wrap up in her arms, too lazy to get a blanket or anything to cover herself with. The first message was something about Sam coming in early for work tomorrow due to a meeting with some kid of an inspector. The second was something about mortgage and getting money back for something, it was just an annoying automatic message anyway. And then the third one...

Astrid was making a microwave meal for the pair of them as the message began to play.

"Um... Sam Temple? This is Abana Daidoo. I was friends with your mother. Um... Look I have someone here. I know... I know this is going to sound weird... But do you remember Caine Soren? Your brother in the FAYZ?" Astrid and Diana both looked up sharply and listened in silence to the message. "Well... I have him here in my house. I accidentally hit him with my car and he's beaten up but he's okay. Just give me a call. Okay?"

Astrid was running from the room before Diana could even unravel herself from the sofa. She jumped down the stairs at three at a time and threw herself out the main entrance so fast she nearly fell right off her feet, running down the street and shouting as loudly as she could.

"SAM! SAM WAIT!"

**G*O*N*E**

The house was lovely. It was nice. A big garden with fresh grass and bright flowers lining just inside of the white picket fence, the house was also white with a soft wooden door and large white windows with a narrow roof, a chimney and some kind of satilite disc on the roof. The whole house was nice, homey, lovely, beautiful and just generally welcoming.

It was the perfect place for her to attack and hear the crying of the owners from inside. She made her way towards the wooden door in swift movements. Her fur covered paws patted gently on the ground and she jumped up onto the gate and down onto the grass in swift movements. Her long black tail was waving gently in the air behind her body. Her yellow eyes glanced around the area for a moment before she strode straight up to the door but it was closed firmly and she would not be allowed inside. New plan.

The small black cat jumped up onto the fence and strode along towards the wall. When she looked up she saw a window was half open. It was the only window open and unfortunately it was on the second floor but while this was hard, it was not impossible. She jumped up into the air and clung onto the wall with her claws, travelling up with surprising ease as she dug her claws into the cracks of the brick wall. By the time she reached the window she was in a good pace and jumped onto the white window sill.

Finally she was able to slide under and inside where she jumped down and slipped through the gap of the door. Now she was in. She wandered down and hide behind of a plant pot just as a tall black woman dressed in white came out of a room and half shut the door. The cat waited for the woman to walk down towards another room before she darted over and slide inside the room.

The room was very purple and pink, she could see that with her cat like eyes and straight away she spotted a boy lying on the bed wrapped in bandages and fast asleep. Jumping up onto the bed she wandered towards him until she was settled right beside of his head. Then she lifted her paw up and moved it until it was very close to his face. A small ball of light appeared, hovering in the air beside of her paw. She moved it close to the boys face until she could see him start to moan and sweat. The cat smirked and moved the light ever closer, ready to push it into his skull and burn his eye from inside out.

* * *

**18) Any ideas about this cat?**

**19) I got really creeped when Gaia killed people. Some part of it seemed so much worse than anything before. What do you guys think?**


	9. Chapter 9

**I love getting reviews. They seriously make me happy! So thank you to the "Guests" and to "Breeze xxx" and "Jch15jch15" and Godz-Assassin98" and everyone else! You really make my day :D, hope I don't ruin yours with this chapter:L**

* * *

The ball of light - no bigger than a golf ball - was inches away from the boys eye lid, he was now sweating and twitching unhappily under the direct heat of the light, when the door opened and the woman was back again. She was silent for barely a second when she began to scream so loud that the cat fell back off of the bed and hit the ground hard on it's side in shock. Caine jumped up from the bed in his own shock as he heard the screams and looked around at Abana standing in the doorway. She was still screaming while her hands grabbed a hairbrush off of the cupboard in order to use it as a weapon. Her face was full of terror but there was something else. There was fear and determination behind her eyes as well.

The cat hissed and Caine finally looked down at it. It didn't look different to a normal animal. It looked almost completely normal, with black fur, black pointed ears, a long black tail that was twitching angrily, black paws with terrifying sharp claws but then the cat looked up at him and he got a real glance at the cats eyes. They were so strange and wrong. They were so off and... Empty. They were dead. It was like someone had surgically replaced her eyes with a dead animals ones and now they just looked wrong with her body still alive and moving. Caine scrambled off the bed and instantly regretted it. His side screamed in protest as he hit the floor and crumpled into a ball as he tried to move at the same time. Somehow he managed to ignore the pain as he crawled over to Abana on his hands and knees. No. Ignored is the wrong word for it. That suggested that he could forget about it even for a moment. It was more like he put up with the scorching pain before slouching against the wall and panted heavily as he tried to squint through the dark and see where the black cat was hiding.

The cat hissed at them again. The woman was no longer screaming at her but she was still waving the brush in the air in front of her. That scream had been just what the cat wanted but she was pissed by it rather than pleased. The womans scream stopped her from making the boy scream. Now they were both going to pay for it. She was going to make the boy scream long and loud as she killed the woman right in front of his eyes and then she would make the boy scream even louder as she killed him off after. Yeah, that was the plan.

She slid around the bed, moving in slow motion in the dark. Because of the dark room she nearly blended in but they could just about see her, so she hid behind the mattress of the bed before she was ready to pounce. Running out she move swiftly so their eyes couldn't settle on her for long. Then she jumped into the air, higher and further than normal animals could, and Abana and Caine both had to dodge to the side to avoid her claws. She fell into the hallway, skidded and turned as Abana slammed the door shut hard and tried to think clearly of what was happening. She guessed as much as she could but that wasn't very much at all. They needed to block the door somehow to keep the thing out but Caine was too injured to help her. As it was, he was lying on the floor, clutching his sides and gritting his teeth like he wanted nothing more than to start weeping in pain.

"Caine, lean against the door! Just try, okay?" Abana begged. She didn't want to push him but she didn't have anyone else to help her.

Caine growled in pain and anger but dragged his body until he was leaning against the door and using his whole body as a door stopper. He wasn't angry at Abana, he was pissed with this flea bag cat that was attacking them for no reason. The pain was horrible, but thankfully he remembered what it felt like to be burned by Sam's light and have the Gaiaphage stabbing at his mind with a thousand knives so it wasn't the worst pain in the world. That and the adrenaline rush helped him to put up with the pain and force his body to move around even if it did make him dizzy and like he wanted to throw up. Luckily he hadn't eaten too much and the stuff that he had eaten was keeping down.

While Caine put pressure on the door as they could hear the cat banging and scratching on the wooden frame, Abana ran to the chest of draws and grabbed them, dragging them across the room. It was a lot of work and she wasn't that strong and so it took time. Caine pressed hard against the door for the whole time. His back was now hurting and his ribs were pounding. With every smack against the door that the cat made it vibrated on Caine's body and he started to feel sick again. Caine pushed his feet down on the carpet, he was ashamed that he was whimpering but the banging of the door was leaving him with the same aching feeling that he had somehow managed to ignore while moving around. Finally she managed to push it in the way of the door and Caine rolled out of the way before it was firmly in place. Once again he was in pain but at least now he could lie down on the floor and breath until the pain eased off. The two of them stared at the draws and relaxed slightly when they did not budge any further. The cat was still scratching at the door loudly but then it went silent. They couldn't tell whether she had left or whether she had just stopped to wait for them to open the door in their own time but neither was willing to be the first to suggest they open the door and check.

"What do we do?" Abana whispered, more to herself than Caine. Somehow it helped to ask the questions out loud so she could answer herself.

"Does this room have a phone?" Caine said through gritted teeth.

He was sprawled on the floor and had stretched his limbs out. This somehow helped both his ribs and his head. Any pains eased away into the carpet and it made breathing easier for him now even if it also made him want to do nothing more than curl up and sleep. But even comfortable he still needed to clench his jaws together when talking to avoid a tightening pain. As he lay there, he slowly rolled his eyes over to Abana to avoid closing them and falling asleep with a crazy cat outside.

"No... It's downstairs... Along with my cellphone." Abana scowled, trying to think of something she could do. She had to help them, she was the adult here. After another moment of thought she spun and ran to the window. She opened it wide with a quick thrust and stuck her head out. "HELP! SOMEONE! HELP US! PLEASE!"

Caine watched her screaming before he dragged himself back to the bed so he could sit up, leaning against the mattress. It didn't make his pains feel any better but at least he could now see what was happening around of him, including the door and Abana.

First the fire breathing lizard... Now a weird cat... Why did animals not like him?

**G*O*N*E**

Astrid, Sam and Diana were running down the street. Actually it was more like they were blundering down the street. Astrid had her phone out and was using it for its map service but the screen kept freezing which caused them all to have to stop and wait for it to load again. They were all hot and shivering at the same time. It had taken a lot out of Astrid to run and catch Sam and then they had to run back for Diana and her phone before they ran back out again. It was very exhausting work. It was only by pure luck that Astrid had gotten Abana Daidoo's address down for the book anyway so they knew roughly where to go. She had been putting off contacting Mrs Daidoo because she didn't know how she would be feeling about talking about her daughters death.

When the page loaded once more they started running again. Diana kept going ahead but then she had to drop back constantly to see which way to go next. In the end she was tiring herself out more than anyone else. They were all tired but no one suggested resting. As soon as they found Caine they needed to beg Abana not to tell anyone and hope she hadn't already called or told someone. Then they would drag Caine back themselves!

As they rounded a corner they had to stop once more because the page had once again frozen. It would have been easier to get a hand written map but they didn't actually own one. The longer they had to wait the more impatient Diana got until she was arguing with Astrid over the phone.

"You're phone is ridiculously slow!" Diana snapped. Turning and walking right up until she was meters away from her. "What is the point of it?"

"The point of it is to find Caine." Astrid said evenly, refusing to fight.

"We should have tried Quinn again." Sam grumbled.

"There's no guarantee he would have been able to come. And even then we would have had to wait around for him." Astrid pointed out.

"I know but..." Sam threw his hands in the air and moaned in frustration.

"I know." Astrid whispered, nodding her head.

As they waited for the page to load Diana was seething. This was wasting time and Caine needed her. Sam was right, she should have never left. She should have just been happy that he was back and celebrated then none of this would have happened. She was still afraid of what this could mean but she still wanted Caine to be safe with her.

"Hurry up!" Diana snapped.

Astrid frowned and looked to the right. "Diana..." She began. She wanted to say something but Diana assumed she was going to start lecturing her again.

"Don't tell me to be patient!" Diana snapped. "If you do I will rip out your blonde hair here and now, bitch!"

Sam looked shocked and slid between the two of them like he seemed to be doing a lot lately. He gave Diana a scowl but also a little hint of pity. He knew she was worried and she didn't mean what she was saying but he couldn't let her get away with it either. Diana stepped up and the two of them stared at one another. A fight was already building, one that Sam wanted to avoid, when Diana's frowned passed him and he followed her gaze to look back at Astrid.

She was still frowning off to the side as if she was trying to focus on something. She hadn't even realised Diana and Sam were getting ready to start screaming at one another. She was too caught up in whatever it was that had caught her interest.

"Astrid?" Sam asked. Then paused. He heard something.

"I think someone's calling for help." Astrid whispered.

She glanced down at the map, then turned and began to run. Instantly Diana and Sam followed, calling for her but she ignored them. Astrid ran down the street and across the road. She had to cut around a house but as soon as she crossed the brick wall she saw something down at the far end of an open field. From a set of houses there was a shape in the window. That was the one calling for help.

Astrid glanced down at her phone before switching it off and stuffing it away. "That's the house!" She cried.

Diana charged ahead. Sam and Astrid staggered behind her as she raced across the field towards the house. They closer they got the better they could hear the woman in the window. It was Abana and she was crying for help. That made Diana's legs move faster than she believed she could and she threw herself through the gates towards the door. She slammed against the wooden surface and banged loudly with her fists but it was locked.

"It's locked!" Diana shouted over her shoulder as she continued to pull at the handle.

Sam growled and ran around the house. Abana hadn't yet noticed them and after a quick check Sam saw all the windows and the back door were also locked. He could try kicking the door in but he wasn't sure if he could. That was always a lot easier in the movies than in real life. That left one other place. Sam pulled off his shoe, ran to the first window, and began to smash the glass with his hand in his shoe. It took longer than he wanted, once again it looked easier in the films and on TV but eventually he had broken the window enough to climb through.

"Be careful of the glass." Sam warned as he helped Astrid awkwardly climb through, avoiding glass.

She landed on the kitchen sink and quickly climbed down to help Diana through the window. Diana was in a rush and cut her shoulder but only lightly on a piece of glass hanging from the corner. Astrid had to grab Diana to keep her from running off before Sam had a chance to follow them through.

"Come on!" Diana snapped and dashed ahead.

**G*O*N*E**

Abana was still screaming when Caine noticed something was happening. The wood of the draws looked strange and began to crack and blacken. Then he realised she was burning her way through the door and the chest of draws back into the room. She was a second away from getting into the room and if she did then it would mean they were trapped with her in the room! Caine gasped and tried to drag himself up to his feet, pushing his elbows on the mattress and struggling but his aches and pains were all slowing him down.

"Abana!" Caine cried. "Look out! It's coming!"

Abana spun and let out a shriek of terror. She ran over just as the whole in the draw appeared and broke open and thrust the brush into the whole, blocking it. There was a low angry hiss again and the brush began to melt and burn. Abana shrieked and looked around wildly. She needed something else to block the door. She needed something else! She needed someone!

Running over to the window, Abana dragged down the curtain and ran back to the door, she stuffed it as best as she could. She burned her fingers in the process but only slightly and so she barely noticed. Abana hurried over to the cupboard but it was far to heavy to move fast enough on her own. Caine struggled and crawled back to the draws even though it was the last place he wanted to be and pulled the top two draws out, putting them in the way of the burning curtain.

They were just stalling. Waiting for someone to come and save them. Caine hated that. He hated being weak and having to wait around for someone else to save him like some kind of damsel in distress but with his bones so damaged he couldn't do much else than stall for someone to show up.

After seeing what Caine was doing, Abana hurried with the cupboard but it scratched across the carpet gently and she could see the cat was burning it's way through faster than either her or Caine could stop it. They were not going to make it. It was going to break through and kill them!

And then it stopped.

Caine and Abana glanced at one another. They waited to hear something but it was really silent and after Caine moved the draw he saw the curtains had stopped burning.

Then another hiss.

"It's a cat." Came Astrid's voice.

"GET AWAY!" Caine shouted. "It's demonic! It burns stuff!"

"What?" Sam's voice came next.

"Caine? Is that you?" Diana's voice was after that and panicked.

"GET AWAY!" Caine and Abana shouted at the same time.

A scream that could have come from either Diana or Astrid drowned everyone else out. Caine stared at the door, suddenly feeling beyond helpless. Even if he could move, which he could not, he didn't have any powers! What was he supposed to do to protect them?! Abana ran over and began to pull the draws out of the way but again it was a slow process that took up too much time.

Outside, Sam, Diana and Astrid ran. Well Sam and Diana ran. Astrid was limping from a burn on her ankle in between the two of them. The cat was chasing after them. It would have caught them by now but in between running it was trying to make another ball of light in it's paw to burn them again. They darted just down the corridor before slamming the door behind of them and pressing their bodies against it. The cat banged against the door but it was still only a cat and so it couldn't push through with the three of them blocking it's way.

They had no idea where they were but it looked like Abana's bedroom.

"Is it too much to hope it keeps banging and knocks itself out?!" Diana cried as she pushed her body against the wood.

The banging stopped.

Astrid, who was holding up her injured leg, glanced over at Sam. "Was that it?"

"Guys! She's burning her way through!" Caine's muffled voice came from the next room.

Diana shrieked and ran forward. Astrid staggered after her with Sam's help and the three looked down just as a small hole was made and a black paw stuck through. Slowly it began to use the ball of light to burn the wood and make the whole bigger. The wood didn't exactly catch fire like Sam expected it to but it did burn away.

"What do we do?!" Diana snapped.

"Grab something!"

"What?!" Diana shrieked.

Astrid staggered and grabbed a mirror from the desk nearby, passing it along. She snatched up a mouse from the keyboard and the keyboard itself, passing the keyboard along to Sam while Diana stood with the mirror. They all stood there, staring down at the things in their hands.

"You call these weapons?!" Diana snapped.

"They're all that we have!" Astrid snapped back. "Just... Be imaginative!"

The cat had now finally made a big enough gap that it jumped through and was now standing in front of them. It glared, actually glaring at them and hissing angrily.

"What do we do?" Diana whispered.

"Hit it?" Sam guessed.

"HIT IT!" Astrid snapped.

Sam ran forward and brought the keyboard down but the cat jumped out of the way. Sam spun and tried again but the cat was quick and jumped repeatedly out of the way seconds before the blow hit. Diana hesitated then ran forward and began to wave the mirror around but once again it avoided every attempt. Astrid couldn't run around with her ankle badly burned but she could wave the mouse by it's cord in weak attempts to slash out and hit the cat when it came near.

As she waved the mouse around she watched carefully and noticed something she didn't think she would see in a cat. Her eyes, momentary ago they had been angry but now they were scared, they were frightened and terrified. The cat was scared of them now they were lashing out at it... No she was scared of something else but Astrid couldn't quite put her finger on it.

"It's too fast!" Diana shrieked.

"Out smart it!" Astrid called.

"That's your job!" Diana snapped.

"Oh ha ha!" Astrid said, spitting sarcasm.

"Sam! To your right!" Diana shouted.

Sam spun and brought down the keyboard but the cat was not even there.

"My right!" Diana snapped.

"Then why didn't you say to your right! Not my right!" Sam snapped back, spinning and waving the keyboard through the air but the cat had long jumped out of his way.

"Oh I am so sorry!" Diana said, sarcasm as heavy as it was with Astrid. "Next time I will think before I call out to try and help save your life!"

"Both of you stop arguing!" Astrid snapped. "Stand back to back!"

They both moved, slamming their backs against one another, waving their keyboard and mirror in the air in front of them. The cat moved faster than most animals. It moved faster than most things they had seen. The cat ran around them in circles but never came close enough to be hit. Then it vanished from in front of them and appeared on the desk right beside of Astrid's hand where she was leaning on the table.

"AHH!"

Astrid swung the mouse around and slammed it hard enough on the desk that it broke off the buttons but the cat was gone. It was then on the floor, it's paw carrying a small ball. Astrid shrieked and kicked the cat right across the room into the wall. It hit the wall hard and slid down to the floor.

"... Did I kill it?" Astrid squeaked.

"You must have." Sam whispered, he walked over and the cat lay there, unmoving.

"Caine!" Diana gasped, dropping the mirror onto the floor with a crash but luckily it didn't break.

She just turned to the door when it was pushed open and Abana appeared, looking terrified. Behind her, seconds later, Caine had dragged himself down though he was clearly badly injured. As soon as he pushed his way into the room Diana ran over and caught him before he fell to the ground. He hissed in pain and clung to her.

"What's wrong?" Diana asked.

"My ribs. I hurt them." Caine gasped.

"Is everyone okay?" Abana whispered, stepping into the room.

"Yeah. Astrid killed the cat." Sam said, walking over to Astrid. "She hurt her leg though. Do you think you could help us out?"

Abana took a step forward...

... And then the cat jumped at her.

There was no time to help her. The cat moved fast, somehow running on three legs all of a sudden and holding one paw ahead of her that was burning a bright ball of light no bigger than a marble. The cat jumped and landed on the bed in the corner of the room, jumping again and throwing herself up onto Abana and knocking the two of them down onto the ground. Sam ran over while Astrid scream and Diana stood, hugging Caine in complete shock.

As Sam ran over he brought the keyboard around hard and hit the cat directly on the head, knocking it off of Abana. However the damage had been done when the cat had already pushed the marble light through Abana's throat, cutting through her skin and easing out the other side.

"Hold on, it'll be okay!" Sam panted, grabbing her hand. "We'll call a doctor, just hold on!"

Already she was drowning in her own blood that was also leaking out down around her neck in a small puddle on the floor. Abana turned her eyes to him. It was hard to tell what she was thinking.

And then she was smiling. She was looking at something over his head. Sam turned but he couldn't see anything. When he looked back she was still smiling, choking on her own blood as she stared up at the space above his head. Her eyes were focussed on something but each time Sam looked there was nothing there.

"D... D... D..." Abana tried to speak. She coughed blood that streamed down her chin and smiled again at nothing. "Da... Dahra..."

And then her hand went limp.

* * *

**20) Somehow I don't think Dahra's mother dying was as sad as I thought it would be because she is reunited with her daughter. What do you guys think?**

**21) How long did it take you to get Light?**


	10. Chapter 10

**Just wanted to apologise for any British slang I use! I try but it's hard not to put it down out of habit. **

* * *

Astrid let out a sob that broke the silence in the room and collapsed to the floor when her legs could no longer holding her up. She pulled her knees up to her chest and let the broken mouse fall from her grip onto the floor by her side. She cried weakly as she stared at the body of Abana in the doorway. Just moments ago she had come running when they needed help and she had taken Caine in, she was exactly like her daughter, just as helping and nice and now she was gone just like her daughter too. It wasn't fair. They had left the FAYZ. They had finished with it but now it was back and death was following them all over again. Astrid forced herself to control the sobs. She wasn't the kind of girl to just collapse like this and she wasn't actually going to start now, either. After calming down she slowly climbed back to her feet, breathing deeply to remain calm.

Diana had helped Caine to sit down on the end of the bed and quickly settled beside of him with her arms around him. Neither of them were crying, they didn't have any expressions really, their faces were blank as Diana pulled Caine's top up to make sure he wasn't too badly injured around his chest though she couldn't tell much from looking at the bandages wrapped around his torso. She dropped his top and reached up to feel his head as if to check that as well. It was a shock to see Abana like that and now, as she felt her mind breaking inside, she struggled to do everything she could to not look over at her body and instead to keep busy. Caine was letting her do whatever she wanted. His eyes were wide. Abana had practically saved his life and now she had died. The sickness was back again and Caine struggled not to vomit down his front.

While the rest of them stared, Sam stayed knelt over Abana as if just making sure she was dead, still holding her hand, not sure of what else he was supposed to do for her. He slowly reached over and closed her eye lids down, staring at the hole in the middle of her throat, still slowly leaking blood. He didn't even think about the cat until he heard it's cry a few seconds later.

It sounded strange. It was definitely the cat meowing aloud but there was something strange about the sound it was making. It was a mixture of the cat howling out and a girl crying in fear. The girl's voice was young, barely older than a teenagers. Like a human girl's sobs as the cat let out loud meows that were mixing in with the girls voice and the cat continues to cry as it stumbled around the corner, waving it's head back and forth, the sound mixing in with one another. Sam stared down at the cat and frowned. It didn't seem like it was injured or anything, but it was still screaming and crying out...

"It's scared..." Astrid suddenly whispered. She limped over to stand by Sam, stepping carefully over Abana's body shakily, leaning on his shoulder with tears still streaming down her pale cheeks. "I saw it before while you were trying to hit it. It was scared of being hit. And it's still scared. You hit it and it is really terrified. You can see it in it's eyes. They're almost human now."

"But you hit it. You kicked it in the stomach and chest and sent it flying into the wall." Sam complained, like he didn't want to be responsible for the creatures deathe even if it had been crazy. He couldn't take his eyes off the cat who was shaking and sobbing in front of them.

Astrid frowned and said nothing for a moment. She was getting a horrible sense of Deja Vu from this cat. The light she made. Her eyes (which were looking a lot more human the longer she screamed). Even her voice. It was all as if she had heard and seen it somewhere before, or maybe she had just heard it somewhere before but she couldn't place it.

The cat turned and looked up at them. She was still crying and howling almost like it was trying to communicate or like it was trying just get out the fear in it's throat and chest. She collapsed onto the ground and whimpered in pure terror. The cat looked so frightened of them and a paw slowly reached up, touching her head gently and crying. No longer did she sound like a cat, now she was full girl. A little girl sobbing and crying in terror as she rubbed her head much like when cats licked their paws and cleaned their heads only this cat was trying to wipe away a feeling of pain.

"Bette."

"What?" Sam blinked and turned to look at Astrid.

"It's Bette." Astrid whispered. "I mean... Her eyes. That power. And you hit her around the head, just the same as Orc hit her with the bat and she died. That's why she is so scared right now."

"Are you saying this cat is Bette?" Sam demanded.

"Of course not." Astrid said instantly but she didn't sound very sure of herself.

"Then what are you saying, Astrid?" Sam whispered. He didn't want to be demanding but he needed answers and Astrid was the one he always went to.

"The ball of light." Astrid mumbled weakly, trying to put her thoughts to words. "I asked around after Caine was beaten to get more information on their powers and that is exactly how some of the kids that saw her described her power. It was all so I could understand it more, you know? In the book and on the computer documents I was making. They said it was a small ball of light that hovered in the palm of her hand. They said it was a magic trick. They said it was small, like a marble size. But they said it didn't do anything but hover there in her hand. Maybe if she had been able to expand her powers then she could have made them bigger and actually made them hurt others..." She paused and shrugged. "Just like that cat."

"But that is just it!" Diana snapped suddenly. They looked back at her and she was shivering as if she was sitting in the snow. She moved against Caine as if seeking warmth, trying to block it out but needing to speak at the same time. "It's just a cat! It was a cat! It is a cat! Look at it!" Waving her hands, Diana pointed at the cat, glancing at it before turning back to them again. Then her eyes widened in shock and she looked back at the cat. "Oh my God! Look at it!"

They all turned just in time to see the cat shivering on the ground much like Diana had been shaking only this was more like it was spasming like it was having a stroke of some kind. It was always black but now it was changing like a faint blue outline covered it's body. Then it began to melt and burn, turning to liquid and ash at the same time. It's eyes were still widen open and now they were completely human. Sam saw what Astrid saw. Human eyes that almost... no they did! They resembled Bette's incredibly well. The eyes, along with the body and fur, melted and burned until there was only a small black ash filled puddle on the ground where the cat had been. The blue aura had vanished and the cat was gone. It's voice had gone from a high pitched meowing human cry, to fully human screams, back to a sort of gargling meow cry as if it was gargling blood before it finally fell silent and collapsed onto the floor.

"Holy crap!" Caine yelped.

No one moved. They were all staring at the puddle where the cat had been. Not only had they been attacked by a cat with magical powers, but now they watched the cat melt in front of their very eyes.

"It sounded like her too." Astrid whimpered after a moment of silence. She spoke almost like nothing had happened. "It had Bette's voice. I've only heard it a few times but I'm sure it was her."

"It was. Now that you say it, I can hear it too." Sam whispered. "Her voice, and her screaming."

"Sam, we have to go."

"What?" Sam looked at Astrid with a frown. She kept jumping conversations too quickly for him to follow.

One moment he was looking at the melted cat and now he was hearing Astrid talking. He couldn't quite make sense of what she was saying. His eyes were stuck on the melted cat that had been very much like a girl he had not only seen moments before her death, but they had been in the same class so often and they normally always sat side by side too. But what did this have to do with the cat? Bette was not a cat! This cat was not Bette! But the coincident was just too great.

"We have a corpse lying at our feet and a puddle that used to be a cat just a few feet away." Astrid spoke quickly with ergency. "How are we supposed to explain this? Especially with Caine sitting here right behind of us in the room. We have to get out of here, wipe down our surfaces or something so no one knows we were here and get back to the apartment before the sun comes up and before anyone can come here. Abana was shouting out the window, remember? So someone might be coming at any moment now."

"You want us to just ditch her?" Sam mumbled. It didn't seem right. In fact it seemed shockingly cruel.

"No but..." Astrid shrugged. She didn't want to just leave Abana like this either but she couldn't see any good with standing around and waiting for Ripley to show up when there was nothing else left for them to do.

"Astrid's right." Diana said. Her whole body was tense like she was hurt. "We have to go. One of you help me with Caine, he's still banged up."

Astrid immediately ran over, stepping over Abana once more. Caine glared at her but he allowed the two girls to help him stand and slowly stumbled across the room. He awkwardly stepped over Abana and winced as he did so. He wanted to say something, do something for the woman that had helped him but there was nothing he could do. Caine rarely helped people but Abana was different. She had known what he had done and that he was a bad guy yet she had still helped him. Not to mention Caine wished he could do something because she had already lost her daughter. But then he reminded himself he couldn't do anything. He ignored the tiny guilt and let the girls drag him away.

Sam hesitated a moment longer to stare down at Abana before he sighed to himself. Sam jumped up and ran over, making sure to grab the keyboard, mouse and mirror off the floor as he ran. He tucked them in the back of Caine's waistband under his top (against his permission which caused a small argument and struggling before Caine's ribs hurt and he was forced to hold still and shut up) and hurried down into the kitchen. Soon he was using a wet cloth to wipe down the doors, banister and anywhere else they had accidentally put their hands that he could remember. Then he threw the cloth out the window into the neighbour's garden beside the bin before he followed the three of them. They had started ahead of him but they were going so slow that Sam caught them before they got off the staircase.

"We can't get him through the window, we need to go out the door." Diana grunted under his weight.

"I'm not that weak." Caine growled. Even hurt he was stubborn as hell.

"Oh shut up." Diana snorted, rolling her eyes.

They hurried Caine to the door that Sam clumsily opened with his elbow to avoid anymore finger prints. Abana had a hole in her neck, it was no doubt this place would be treated as a murder scene and they could not risk anything. As the door swung open they dragged Caine from the building and half ran, half fell down the road, hoping no one would see them and leaving Abana, her house and her kindness behind them in the night.

**G*O*N*E**

Back at the apartment Caine was laid down on Diana's bed and she made sure he was comfortable in the position. Because he wanted to be in on the discussion, he forced Sam and Astrid to push their small sofa into the bedroom (luckily it was extremely light and easy to squeeze in) and Diana to sit beside of him while they talked about what happened. It took them a moment to gather their breath after the hurry home but none of them had the patients to express opinions and confusions. But when it came down to it and they were ready to talk, they discovered they didn't have much to say so Astrid started by laying out the facts of things that they did know.

"There was a cat." Astrid began.

"That sounds like the start of a bad poem." Caine snorted. "There once was a cat, who had a gift of light, he could make them into balls, to go up real tight!"

"Caine," Sam warned, this was not the time for sick jokes. Especially not after what happened to Abana.

Caine stuck his tongue out childlishly at him.

"Stop it, both of you." Astrid said before she went on as if none of them interupted her. "There was a cat. It could make light much like Bette's power, with a voice that sounded like her's. And eyes that were similar."

"Except dead." Caine pointed out.

"What?" Diana blinked.

"Well when I looked at the cat, it's eyes just looked dead. As if the cat was dead but moving around on her own or something." Caine shrugged then winced.

"That is weird." Diana mumbled. She hadn't quite joined in one the conversation but couldn't help but express the most obvious thing.

"Okay so dead eyed cat that reminds us all over Bette and died by turning into a puddle after being killed the same way Bette was killed." Sam nodded. He turned to look at Astrid and gave a rather hopeful smile with sad eyes. "Maybe this is a one off?"

"No. There's something else." Astrid said, glancing over at Diana who scowled in response.

"Don't start again. There is a big difference between a killer cat with similar powers then a random lizard who shoots fire!" Diana snapped.

"Wait what?" Sam blinked, looking between the two.

The girls shared a glare like they were having some kind of a silent argument with one another. Sam was just about to ask again when he was interupted.

"Astrid is insisting that a demonic lizard that could breath fire killed a guys two daughters." Diana snorted. "But if I remember correctly, he was badly hurt himself and so was obviously hallucinating and making up answers for unasked questions."

"How is that obvious?" Astrid snapped.

"And if this does have something to do with the FAYZ, then if I also remember, then there was no one who could use fire in the FAYZ." Diana argued. She slapped Caine's hand down when he tried to raise it and wave it in front of her face like a school child.

"Hello!" Caine snapped at her. "I was attacked by a fire breathing lizard right before Abana hit me with her car!"

"Told ya!" Astrid sneered at Diana.

"Oh go stick your head in a plant pot!" Diana snapped and turned back to Caine. "Are you serious? You're sure you saw it?"

"Positive. It tried to kill me." Caine grumbled.

"But then it can't be to do with the FAYZ, then." Diana insisted and Astrid saw the sudden relief filling her. She was glad it wasn't to do with all their worst fears. Astrid wished she didn't have to let her down... But she was wrong when she said that there was no mutant with the power of fire.

"There was a little girl." Astrid explained quietly, looking at Sam. He frowned but slowly relisation clicked in on him. "She had the power to shoot fire from her hands. She nearly killed Sam when he was trying to save her life." She looked down at her lap.

"So... This does have to do with the FAYZ, then." Sam mumbled.

"No!" Diana snapped. "It can't!"

Sam wished he could help her. He wished he could deny this had anything to do with the FAYZ but they had more pressing matters at hand. "Don't tell me all the dead members of the FAYZ are coming back as animals? We'll get people like Drake and Zil and everyone else back!" He stopped and frowned. "But if that's true then why did Caine come back as human and the rest come back as animals?"

"Maybe it's not all kids but the kids with powers. The fire starter and Bette." Astrid explained.

"For all we know it could be only a few of the kids with powers. What makes us all think that they're all coming back?" Caine demanded.

"Guess work." Astrid shrugged.

Diana had turned away from them. No. This could not be happening! What if they were wrong and Drake did come back? What about everyone else? This could not be happening again. They were free. And they were supposed to stay free. Why couldn't Caine have come back and nothing else happened? Why did all this have to start happening again just when they had normal lives and had put it behind them?

"So you're guessing that dead mutants are coming back as animals? But then why is Caine still human?" Sam frowned at Astrid for answers.

"I have no idea." Astrid sighed.

"Maybe not all of them are animals. How many bars were Bette and the fire starter?" Caine asked Diana.

"How should I know? I didn't read either of them!" Diana snapped.

"Okay, calm down!" Caine said, raising his hands in defence. She was a lot more snappy and jumpy than normal.

He tried to sit up and instead settled for leaning against the bed frame when his upper body strangth failed him. He relaxed and breathed slowly.

"Okay, if you could guess... They were both very early off so maybe they were two bars at the most?" Caine suggested. Like Astrid said, most of this was guess work but he was almost a hundred precent sure he was right considering how early the FAYZ had been at that point. "So what if the higher the bar you are, the more human you are. Four could be fully human, maybe three is part human-part animal and two bar is completely animal."

"Maybe but what about one bar?" Astrid frowned.

"How should I know? I'm guessing, you're the genius!" Caine snorted.

Astrid rolled her eyes at him. Astrid was just about to start arguing when something caused her to stop. She saw the way Diana's arms kept tensing and shivering with her back turned and finally decided to give her a break for the night.

"It's been a long day. And it's late. Let's rest a bit, okay?" Astrid suggested.

"Sounds good." Sam yawned.

Sam and Astrid stood and slipped back into their room, leaving the sofa in place, too tired to move it now. In seconds they had dropped onto the bed, not bothering to change, and had fallen asleep. The walk back had been a lot harder than the walk there. Mostly because they had run there with breaks along the way with adrenaline powering them while walking back they had been dragging Caine and had been terrified of being caught. Now, after the longest day since getting out of the FAYZ, they were able to sleep.

Meanwhile back in her room, Diana stood up and stripped. For no reason she wanted to try and act like normal and at the same time she wanted Caine to be drooling over her again like he used to be before and during the FAYZ. She dropped her clothes onto the floor until she was in her underwear right in front of Caine who was all too happy to enjoy the show. As soon as she had stripped she pulled on a silk blue nightgown that barely covered her knickers with dark purple and blue flowers along the side. She turned and stared at him. This was also her way of making up for screaming at him, and judging by his face, it was working.

"That was just a show." Diana smirked. "You're too injured for anything else."

"God damn," Caine grumbled and glared accusingly down at his ribs.

Instead Diana pulled a blanket out from under her bed. It was easier than pulling the covers out from under Caine to cover them with. She threw the blanket over Caine before she climbed in beside of him. Soon she was curling up to Caine and resting her head on his chest, listening to his heart beat, her hands lying over him as she shut her eyes and relaxed. Caine couldn't resist kissing the top of her head and slowly wrapping his arms around of her.

Most of the pain had settled back to a weak aching now. It would probably come back but at least for now he could shut his eyes and sleep knowing Diana was curled up in his arms where she belonged. This was how they belonged. They belonged together in each others arms like this.

But what did not belong was the dreams he had. While Diana, Astrid and Sam all had nightmares of the FAYZ and of killer animals with freakish mutant powers... Caine had dreams of Little Pete. He had strange dreams where Little Pete and he stood in strange rooms and... talked?

* * *

**22) Has anyone any theories about why this has happened yet?**

**23) How long did it take you to read Light?**


	11. Chapter 11

Life was never going to be the same. Even before Lana escaped the FAYZ with a dozen other children and teenagers, she knew her life was going to be different. Lana was sick in the head from her confrontation with the darkness but there were also the other nightmares from when she had been injured or healed badly injured kids, as well as her new addictions. Lana's parents had taken her to different clinics and rehab since she had gotten back where she had been taught to live without cigarettes and alcohol. But even two years later after these clinics and rehabilitation events, when she had a bad nightmare, Lana had a stash of cigarette's under her mattress. Though she no longer had to hide them, she just like to have them close at hand in different places easy for reach.

After only a few months of living with her parents, Lana knew she could not handle it any longer and moved out. Ever since the FAYZ she couldn't be around people, not even her own parents. As soon as Lana could, she moved into a small apartment with the money given to her by different charities and interviews and now lived alone. She only called her parents once every two or three weeks and even then they only spoke quietly and shortly to see how one another was doing before hanging up. She had actually moved three times before settling. The first apartment was too well known and so people were always calling for her much like when people came for her because she was 'The Healer'. The second was just too busy and too loud for her to rest. Finally she was settled in a run down, quiet, secluded apartment on the border of Las Vegas. It was perfect. Three tries the charm. It was similar to how long it took to find a home in the FAYZ.

Now she was lying on her bed, smoking a cigarette, yawning and stretching her body. It was weird how much different yet similar life was. She was living alone, smoking cigarette's and hiding from people in a run down apartment. The only difference really was that she was now being forced to go out and work in order to keep this apartment now she was no longer a charity case for people to give money to.

Instead Lana spent most days lying around and spent her nights working at a strip club. She wasn't a stripper. Lana was not going to let men slap her half naked ass and hoot and wolf whistle for her, but she did dress in a skirt and a tank top to serve drinks behind the bar with a man named Ben who watched her back and made sure no one reached over to give her any unwanted touches. Ben was nice. Good looking too. But Lana hadn't had good luck with men. Quinn was amazing but she had scared him away. And Sanjit had been nice but maybe a little too nice and a little too persistent for her liking. Honestly... if Lana had to pick a guy she wanted to spend her nights with it would have been Quinn.

Don't get her wrong! Lana didn't want to work there! Her life's aspiration was not to be serving drinks to men drooling in more ways than one. But she didn't have much other choice. There were no places lining up for jobs to offer her and she didn't exactly have many skills that made people want her any more than normal. One thing she did have, was the body of a super model (in other words she was half starved from her days in the FAYZ) and she could serve drinks. It didn't matter that she couldn't smile or be nice to the customer because other girls did that plenty enough for her. The other girls were not friendly either, so it meant Lana didn't have to try and be friendly back, and because she didn't strip they didn't see her as any kind of threat and so didn't attack her either. It wasn't the best job but it certainly wasn't her career choice.

Lana sighed and threw her cigarette down onto the ground like she normally did. It was getting late and her shift was going to be starting soon. She would need to dress. Her uniform was simple. Any short skirt and any tank top. She could change while she was there but it was easier to just head out in what she was wearing, especially as she knew how to defend herself. Already she had kicked several guys in the crotch, scratched three eyes out and used her gun to threaten off five other men. Her gun wasn't actually registered... But no one had yet reported her.

Lana moaned and stood up, stepping on the cigarette and heading towards the bathroom. She would take a quick shower before getting dressed.

Her mind went back to Ben. Ben was nice, he smiled at her and made sure she was okay. She liked Ben. But did she really like him? If he asked her out then would she say yes? Maybe, maybe not. Ben was nice and, to be honest, he was attractive! But... So was Quinn. Quinn had been amazingly nice and everyone agreed he was good looking in a weird surfer kind of way. Even Sanjit had been nice and kind of attractive. But she hadn't seen Quinn or Sanjit in almost two years and Ben was always around and he was clearly protective.

Lana took a quick shower, drying herself off with a towel and slipping into her uniform. She still wondered if she should be giving off some signals, either to say no or say yes to Ben. Maybe she would give a go at flirting. Lana wasn't very good at that... Maybe if she just tried to smile a little more rather than scowling all the time. She would still scowl at customers, but Ben might get a smile every now and then.

Lana opened her apartment door and went to step out when something stopped her.

It was a woman. Or at least Lana thought it was a woman. They were dressed up like it was Halloween. She had on a strange lion/cat mask on her head with long dark blue hair and a sort of round ball balanced on her head. Her eyes were red and wide and her skin was almost yellow. The woman wore a bright red dress that reached the ankles of her bare feet and had red straps over her shoulders. In one hand she had a plain wooden staff and in the other she had a small cross on a rosary like a Priest. The woman stood with a blank expression, her eyes fixed on Lana as she stood in front of her doorway, almost as big as the doorway entrance and keeping Lana from leaving.

"Excuse me." Lana said. She wanted to hurry up and get to work before the rush started. "Can I help you?" She asked when the woman did not move.

The woman stared at her. Her eyes were frighteningly wide and Lana felt the sudden erge to shut the door and climb out the window just to avoid her. Instead she forced herself to stare the woman down. Why was she dressed like some kind of Egyptian Goddess. Lana knew what this woman was supposed to be. They learnt about her in school. She was a... Oh damn, what was the name? She was a Egyptian Goddess that was the goddess of war and healing. She had a certain name, Lana knew it clearly. She had written a whole report on the Goddess and now she couldn't even remember what her bloody name was.

"Nice costume." Lana snorted and went to push passed. She stopped and the name came to her. A Sekhmet! That was the name.

Lana, happy she had remembered the name, was about to continue to push passed when the Sekhmet placed the staff in her way and used her free hand to push Lana back into her apartment. Something hurt. Her hand against Lana's shoulder hurt like she had been punched hard and when she looked down she saw a bruise had appeared under her tank top right where the Sekhmet had touched her.

"Ow! What did you do?!" Lana shouted.

The Sekhmet stepped into the room and slammed the door shut behind her. Instantly Lana pulled out her gun, now feeling threatened. She pointed the gun right at the Sekhmet's chest and scowling at her. No way was she being pushed around and she was not going to lose her apartment to a freak in a Halloween costume!

"Get the hell out of my home!" Lana shouted.

The Sekhmet stared at her and took a step forward. She reached for Lana, moving slowly and stiffly like a penguin and heading towards her arm.

Lana let out a shout of anger and pulled the trigger. She hadn't actually had to use it ever before. Normally they ran away and maybe she would get in trouble but she was so used to using it when needed Lana didn't think twice about getting in trouble for having it. The bullets clearly hit Sekhmet in the torso, her body was hit and she took a step back but... But she didn't fall. She stood up, brushed her torso down as if she had been hit with dust and took another step forward. There were no wounds, no marks whats-so-ever to show that she had just been hit with a gun at point blank range.

"No... No way..." Lana whispered.

Sekhmet reached over where Lana was frozen and placed a hand on Lana's arm...

It cracked and broke in her skin. Lana screamed in pain and collapsed to the ground in shock. She clutched her arm and looked down. Immediately she regretted it and screamed even louder as she stared down at her arm. It was bent at a V shape with bone sticking out through the skin. Her horror tightened her chest and she screamed even louder and tried to crawl away. The wound was horribly familiar. It was the exact wound she had when she had been in that car crash on the first day of the FAYZ. Her arm had been broken and it had been rotting before she had healed it with her powers and now it was back.

Lana screamed louder and dragged herself away from Sekhmet that was still hovering over her and watching her with blank wide eyes. She reached down again and touched Lana's head. It was more like a tear now and blood began to seep down over Lana's face, blinding her in one eye. She screamed again and threw herself back in an attempt to get away from her. Her head smacked against the wall hard and she fell to the floor, trying to clutch her arm and her face at the same time. The pain was no where near the fear.

Lana shrieked and tried to kick at the Sekhmet but nothing seemed to affect her. The Sekhmet reached down and grabbed Lana's ankle when she tried to kick her and there was another snapping sound that left Lana shrieking and sobbing in pain, trying to pull free as her leg twisted around itself. Lana sobbed and screamed as the Sekhmet touched her lower chin and her lip split open, blood filling her mouth as a tooth was ripped from her gum and she nearly choked on it. Then she touched her back and her lower back burned. Lana continued to scream and shriek as loud as she could but by then Sekhmet was done. She turned and began to walk for the door.

The Sekhmet opened the door and stepped outside. Lana continued to scream and cry. But the apartment was nearly empty. Patrick was at the vet's after he had an accident and had been hit by a car just a few days earlier. He hadn't died but he was badly hurt and wouldn't be home for at least a few days. Even then Lana was supposed to be the one to pick him up.

As the door slammed shut Lana opened her mouth and screamed until her vocal cords felt like they were ripping apart.

**G*O*N*E**

The next morning Caine was the first person to wake but he didn't do anything but lay there for two reasons. One was that his side was still hurting him pretty badly, but the second was the dream he had left him thinking. He remembered it clearly now and it left him shaking because he didn't understand it and he wasn't even sure if it was complete. Caine turned to look down at Diana who had rolled away from him in her sleep and now lay facing away, stretched out and looking beautiful even in her sleep. Caine shut his eyes, wishing he could have a dreamless sleep. He was sick of these dreams.

The phone ringing from the silence made Caine jump so badly that he hissed and clutched his side. Diana startled awake for a moment. Her hair was falling in front of her face and her body stretched out. She blinked a few times, lifting her head before she turned, yawning and rested back on Caine's chest.

"Sam! Astrid!" Diana shouted. "Get the phone!"

"What time is it?!" Sam shouted back through a yawn.

Astrid hurried to her feet, running for the phone in the hallway still fully dressed from the night before. She grabbed it and pressed it to her ear.

"Hello?" Astrid asked, struggling to avoid a yawn.

"Mr Temple?" A voice came.

"Uh, no, this is his roommate. Who is this?" Astrid blinked the last of the sleep from her eyes.

"My name's Tony Hart." The voice said.

"Oh!" Astrid blushed. She pulled the phone away and hissed, covering the speaker with her hand, "Damn! Sam! Sam! It's your boss! I forgot to give you a message he wants you in early today!" She saw the time and took a moment to resist swearing. "It's half twelve!" Sam's normal work schedule had him in by ten.

Sam had no problem out right swearing and there was a bang as he scrambled from the bedroom and towards the phone. Astrid held the phone out for him and he snatched it from her grip as she hurried to make him something to eat so he could run to work.

"Hello? Sir? Sorry! Something came up!" Sam gasped down the phone. "I... I uh... I'm sorry! I really am sorry! I-I don't think I can come in."

Astrid shot him an angry look but he just gave her a half glare back. What else could he do? He couldn't just leave now.

"Sam, I left you a message saying I need you in early and now you're saying you can't come in at all?" Tony demanded.

Tony was a nice guy but he was fair too.

"I am so sorry!" Sam begged. "I just can't come in today."

As Sam and Tony argued, Diana had pushed herself up onto her knees, pushing her dark hair from her face. She straightened her night clothes and yawned, reaching for the mobile on the side of the counter by their bed. Caine watched her in silence. This scene would be so much better if they couldn't hear Astrid and Sam banging and shouting around in the main room.

"Shit." Diana moaned, not really annoyed. She didn't care about her job but she did need the money. "I need to call in..."

"Call in where?" Caine asked.

"My job." Diana yawned.

"You have a job?" Caine snorted.

Diana turned and raised an eyebrow at him. "Why does that surprise you? I have grown up, remember."

"What do you do?" Caine asked casually.

"Just a waitress." Diana sighed. "Pretty boring."

"Call in sick." Caine shrugged, winced and slowly turned to sit up. Everything he did still hurt but at least small things like shrugging his shoulders didn't leave him frozen in pain anymore.

"I know. But he's a bit of an ass." Diana sighed. "My boss. He's probably gonna give me a load of shit." She hesitated and grinned. "I'll text him."

Caine grinned at her and, moving slowly so as not to injure himself while she texted, he moved around until he was sitting beside of her. Then, as soon as she was done, Caine kissed her cheek. She turned and raised an eyebrow as he smirked but even now, after all the time had passed and after they had done so much together, he still had a look in his eye that suggested he was nervous and unsure.

Diana stared at him. She was not going to move. Not for any reason, just because she wanted to see what Caine would do next.

The answer was go for it. Caine leaned forward and kissed her gently, reaching up and running his hand over her bare leg. Diana let him kiss her for a few moments before she placed her hand over his and pushed it off her leg, then reached up and pushed him away, smirking.

"You're injured." Diana smirked.

"I'm fine." Caine shrugged and kissed her again, only to be pushed away.

"Really?" Diana asked. She reached over and, gently, put pressure on his side. Not enough to hurt him, just enough to make him wince slightly. "You don't seem fine."

Caine scowled and tried to kiss her again. She let him kiss the corner of her mouth before she stood up and went to the chest of draws. Caine once again watched the show as Diana stripped, this time she let him see the whole of her naked back as she changed her underwear but Caine was not given the chance to see her front. Soon she was dressed in a nice pair of ankle length light blue denim jeans and a white shirt with a black top over the top, both the sleeves ended at the elbow. The top had a band name on it but Caine didn't recognise the name. He wasn't even sure he could read it properly because it was badly slanted and mixed together.

Diana turned, smoothing her top down as she began to comb through her hair with a thick black brush, watching Caine. She frowned and smiled. "You need new clothes. You need a lot of stuff actually. You're trousers barely held up when we were bringing you home. And you're feet and scraped raw."

"You're suggesting we go shopping?" Caine laughed.

"No. I'm suggesting I go shopping." Diana said, she finished her hair and gathered it into a messy bun on her head, clipping it up. Then she rummaged around and, after searching the rooms, came back with her back and her purse. "I'm going to go into town and get you some clothes."

"Then what am I supposed to do?" Caine scowled.

"Wait here. By the sounds, Sam and Astrid aren't going in. Maybe they'll stay and talk with you." Diana shrugged. "Either way, you're staying."

"I got out before!" Caine snapped. He didn't like being told he was being stuck inside.

"Yeah and now you're injured. Good luck running from Sam now." Diana smirked. She turned and headed for the door.

"I wasn't running!" Caine snapped.

He could hear her laughing as the door slammed shut. Caine angrily dragged himself onto his feet. He really should be lying down and resting so he would heal quicker but Caine was stubborn and his body needed to move around a bit.

In the kitchen area, Sam had convinced Astrid that it was better for him to stay home so they could work out what was happening together. Astrid still was not happy but she accepted it. The two were making bacon and toast as they bickered while Caine stumbled from the bedroom, clinging to the wall in order to walk and somehow throwing himself down on the soft chair. It instantly brought a yelp of pain and he clutched his side, gasping.

"Hey, you okay?" Sam called.

Caine responded with a glare.

"He's fine." Astrid said, rolling her eyes.

"You want something to eat?" Sam suggested.

"I want Lana here with her healing powers." Caine grumbled. "I really miss her and her power."

"You can say that again." Sam laughed and nudged Astrid. "Remember when I broke my arm after the surfing accident? You were begging Lana and her powers to come back just because I was so much trouble."

Astrid let out a giggle and Caine felt like gagging. These two were sickening sweet. Diana had ditched him here, and in a twisted way that was what made her so lovely. Staring at Astrid and Caine really did feel like throwing something at her stupid smiley face.

"Can someone just turn on the bloody TV?" Caine snapped. Anything to drown out their voices.

"Sure." Sam sighed.

Moments later Sam had handed him the controls and he was flicking through. There was nothing on but hearing a mixture of TV shows, action movies and music videos was better than anything Astrid or Sam could say. After a while he did find a film he hadn't seen before that was interesting enough. Fast and Furious 6 had only recently be released from cinema's on the TV. It was a whole car chase film, a real one, not the kind they had in the FAYZ, with explosions and screaming. All perfect to drown out annoying voices of roommates. How Diana could stand them, Caine didn't know.

He had only been watching it for a few minutes when the adverts came on. Caine watch about five seconds of an avert for reclining chairs before he switched over again. Someone placed a bacon sandwich on his lap and he absent-mindedly ate it while flicking through the channels until he landed on the news. Might as well find out what was happening in the world around him.

At first it was mostly boring politics. Then it was something about a kidnapped baby being returned by unknown circumstances. Then there was mention of the FAYZ anomaly with attempts at recreating it. Caine had to do a double take but from the looks on Sam and Astrid's face it wasn't a first. Caine snorted and was about to turn when a shocked female reporters face appeared appeared on live news.

"... events have happened here in the streets of New York. Houses and buildings have been collapsed from tunnels under the grounds that have given way. There is no explanation yet as to what had created these tunnels, but they had caused much damage. Many citizens have been relocated after their homes have been destroyed. These strange tunnels are repeatedly showing and the worst case was under Maxwell's Company building that caused the death of several employees who were crushed from the walls and floor of the building or were thrown from the building during it's collapse." The woman explained.

"Holy crap!" Caine said, blinking his eyes.

"A total of injuries and deaths have not yet been accounted for but..." The woman paused and her body seemed to shake. She blinked and continued with the live report. "But they are being recused as we speak and we should know soon enough." Another shake that nearly knocked her off her feet. "I, uh, cannot be sure but it feels like-"

The woman and the cameraman were knocked off of their feet. The world around them rose as the two collapsed into the ground and wall fell around them. They heard the woman shrieking and there were shouts from around before the shaking camera finally fell still. There was only a little bit of light but just enough to see concrete still falling around them and a twisted leg that didn't belong to the female reported. For a moment there was no movement.

"Oh my..." Astrid croaked.

"Are they okay?" Sam asked.

"Of course not, stupid!" Caine snapped. "God knows how long they fell!"

"What's that?" Astrid blinked.

The three of them frowned and looked closely as a shape appeared from the darkness of under the remaining concrete floor. It was a small animal, crawling forward towards the cameraman. There was no movement but this creature that crawled forward before it was in the shine of the sunlight.

"Is that..." Astrid began.

"What? What is it?" Caine snapped.

"It's a Prarie Dog..."

"A what?" Sam blinked.

"It's like a rodent. It digs in the ground." Astrid said slowly. "But it doesn't dig through concrete and it doesn't... It doesn't collapse buildings."

Sam and Caine looked at one another. "Not unless it's a demonic Prarie Dog with a mutant power." Sam whispered.

"But who had the power to dig?" Caine grumbled.

"SAM!" Astrid said, slapping his arm and pointing to the TV screen.

They all looked forward at the screen once more and something strange was happening. The rodent stepped back and was staring at the camera as it slowly began to sink into the ground. It sunk down and kept sinking, never taking it's eyes off of the camera before it's whole little body was completely gone, disappeared under the Earth. Then the camera finally went back to a man giving reassurance that they would be sending someone to help the reporters immediately and it was cut to adverts.

Sam turned and looked at Astrid but her eyes were stuck on the screen in front of them. Caine had slowly slouched down before wincing at the pain. No one could think to say anything and even if they could their mouths were dry as chalk and they couldn't find any words.

Then Astrid was standing, grabbing the plates and taking them out of the room back to the kitchen area. Seconds later she was kneeling down in front of their make shift table her and Sam had just been sitting on and was laying down a thick address book and her computer, opening google maps.

"What are you doing?" Sam asked.

"We're going to find everyone who will help." Astrid said sharply. "Any survives from the FAYZ, we're going to find them and we're going to find these... These things and we're going to stop them before they hurt anymore people."

"Do you think we really can?" Caine sneered.

Astrid looked up at him. Sam actually felt his heart jump from the look of pure determination back on her face. He found himself grinning at her as she nodded. "Yes we can. Now let's get moving. First let's call Edilio and Quinn. Then Dekka and anyone else who used to be a mutant that we can rely on."

**G*O*N*E**

The clothes shop was a cheap shop. Wallmart was extremely cheap but Diana couldn't exactly afford to spend out for Caine. She had walked in and grabbed a basket, swinging it onto her arm as she walked down through the line of clothes. She wasn't sure his exact size but she found a few she was sure would fit him. Soon she pulled out two jeans, two plain trousers and a pair of tracksuits, walking along before she picked up two white shirts, a black t-shirt, a green jumper and a white vest. Then she wandered until she found a thick black coat and a loose black leather jacket before finally grabbing a pair of white trainers. Some of might be a bit big but nowhere near as big as the clothes he was wearing. Diana wandered and finally grabbed a pair of cameo shorts before she made her way to the register.

As Diana stood in line she began to shuffle through the clothes in her basket to make sure she had everything. This should be enough for now. They could always wash it more or come back if he needed more. At least it would also give her an idea of the size he needed. Diana fished out her purse and stood patiently. It was a long wait and Diana tapped her foot and repeatedly checked her phone as if hoping Caine would give her a call. Sleeping with him... Being with him... That had erased all doubt from her mind. She was glad to have him back and she wanted him back... What she didn't want was to have to deal with these monsters.

No. She wasn't going to think of that now. She was going to keep thinking of how perfect it had been with Caine again.

And then she heard the giggling.

"Um, excuse me?"

Diana turned and found herself face to face with two teenage bleach blonde, orange bottle tanned girls with tissue paper stuffed breasts and clothes at least three sizes too small. They grinned at her and swung bags casually from the side. Even now Diana could see all their clothes were knock offs otherwise they wouldn't be shopping here.

"What?" Diana scowled.

"You look familiar. Have we seen you before?" The girl with bright blue eyes and a fake tattoo of a fairy on her cheek asked.

"No." Diana turned ahead.

They tapped her shoulder again but she ignored them. "Seriously because I swear I like, totally know you."

"You don't!" Diana snarled.

The line couldn't move fast enough but finally Diana was stepping forward and placing her basket on the side. The girls continued to laugh and giggle as she checked through her items and paid.

Then, just as she was packing her things to leave, the brown eyed girl with the unicorn on her cheek shrieked. "Oh my god! She's from the anomaly! That freaky place with the mutants! I knew I saw her somewhere! She was a freak!"

Diana tensed and felt every eye turn to stare at her. She was embarrassed but tried not to show it as she packed everything into her bags. Diana hurried and ignored all the shouting and calling for her before she was hurrying from the store, the bleach blondes laughing and squealing after her. As the sun hit her face Diana turned and hurried down the streets when she heard the familiar giggles following her.

Turning with angry eyes the girls both froze and giggled as Diana glared at them. No way in hell was she letting these idiots follow her home.

"We just wanted to ask a few question!" Brown eyes grinned.

Diana swore at them in a way that told them to leave her alone but they just laughed and clapped their hands like it was a show.

"I mean it!" Diana snapped.

"So you were a freak! Which one where you?" Blue eyes squealed. "Could you do the light thing? Or was it speedy?"

"What other things were there?" Brown eyes laughed. "All I remember was light, and speed... Oh, wasn't there strength? And stretch... Or am I just remembering The Incredibles?"

More laughter.

Diana grit her teeth, taking slow deep breaths to avoid launching at them. Instead she turned and ran. She had pulled on a pair of trainers before leaving and the blonde idiots were wearing black platform shoes. In seconds they were stumbling and falling behind before they finally gave up. Diana slowed down and was about to enjoy a nice walk when she heard another sound that made her pause. This one was another shriek but it was one of fear.

Diana turned in time to see one of the girls drop to the ground on her side with wide blank eyes. The other was on the ground crawling backwards. In between the girls - the one on the ground was either dead or unconscious - was a small black lizard. Diana blinked and stared at it before it turned around, stared at her. Opened it's mouth. And breathed fire.

She dropped the bags and her body to the ground, smacking her jaw but avoiding the flames. They soared over her head before disappearing into the air. When she next looked up the lizard had turned and was making it's way towards the girl still trying to crawl backwards away from it in fear.

It took a lot of struggle not to leave them. The girl was a bitch and she didn't have anything she could defend herself with. She knew Caine wouldn't have blamed her for turning her back... But she wasn't the same Diana and she couldn't leave the girl to die, even if she was a bitch. Diana swallowed hard and blinked before she was up and running for them.

The lizard didn't even notice her until she was standing over it, shadow hiding the sun from it's scales. By then when it turned around Diana had lifted her foot and stamped hard on it's head. The creature was pinned down and while it's legs, body and tail all flailed around trying to free from her hold, it didn't breathe fire. Or maybe it couldn't. Maybe it needed it's mouth to be open...

Diana looked up at the blonde girl sobbing and calling the name Becca. Maybe her friend's name.

"Give me your bracelet!" Diana demanded. The girl looked down. There were several bands around her wrist, some chains but a few were made from strings.

"What?" The girl sobbed.

"Give me a bloody bracelet already!" Diana shrieked.

The girl tore off three, two metal but luckily one of them was a black string with little pink beads around it. Diana struggled to stoop down without letting the lizard go and picked up the bracelet. After a few moments where she panicked, sure the longer she took the more time the lizard had to get free, Diana managed to untie the knot and dropped the beads on the floor.

By now the girl was crawling towards Becca, still crying. From the angle Diana couldn't see any burn backs but she did see blood.

Diana swallowed and crouched down, awkwardly keeping her foot in place on it's head. She wasn't sure how she was going to do this but she would need to be fast. She might have asked the girl for help but she was too busy crying over her friend.

"Okay... Here goes nothing." Diana mumbled. 'But my life' she thought.

Diana grabbed the body and squeezed taking her foot off before she wrapped her hand tightly around the lizard's head. She squeezed as hard as she could, hoping maybe she could snap it's neck or crush it's skull but it never stopped struggling in her hand. Diana shut her eyes. Please let this work.

She released the head and pinched it together in between her two fingers, she somehow caught it's body in between her knees and while it scratched and struggled and twisted to break free, it didn't shoot anymore fire out from it's mouth. The lizard's black eyes turned on her and it was glaring but even though it could half pull it's lips apart, it's jaw was held in place by her fingers. Diana swallowed again. It was like each swallow was swallowing fear. She awkwardly looped the black string around the creatures mouth but she couldn't tie it with one hand busy.

"Girl!" Diana snapped. The girl looked up, still sobbing. "I will help your friend but first do me a favour here! Tie this bloody things mouth shut!"

"What..." She squeaked.

"Get your ass over here or it will get free and kill you too!"

That got her moving. She scrambled over and tied a loose knot around it's mouth. Diana still didn't trust it. She gripped her hand around it's head again and ran over to her bags, pulling out the vest and quickly wrapping the lizard up, making sure to apply pressure and tie it up. Then she set it down and waited. And waited. And waited.

Minutes passed but no fire burned the clothes or shot out from the creature in any way. The girl had returned to openly sobbing and a few people passing by had now come to find out what happened. Diana glanced around but the lizard had attacked just when no one else was around. It was much smarter than any lizard Diana had seen before.

Diana hesitated a moment longer, then picked up the vest and shoved it back in the shopping bag. Then she was snatching the bags and running down the street.

No way were they going to believe she actually caught the thing! They just needed to figure out what to do with it next!

* * *

**24) Who knows about the Sekhmet? (I didn't. My friend told me about it:L)**

**25) Do you get it in Hard back or paper back? (All my books BUT Hunger are in hardback)**


	12. Chapter 12

When Diana ran through the door, Astrid had divided the list of freaks in her address book into two. They had almost done three but then realised no one would come if Caine had been the one calling them. Instead Caine was allowed to watch some more TV in his chair. He pretended he was fine with that but Astrid could see he was bored and kept glancing around for something else to do. If he hadn't been so hurt she was sure he would have started to run around the room by now. But it was his own fault for running off like that. Astrid looked up and wondered if they should try and explain to him why that was so stupid. But maybe later, right now they had tasks.

So far Quinn was definitely coming. They hadn't told him much, just that something serious was going down that involved the FAYZ and that they needed help. No one was sure they wanted to be caught but a few people came anyway because they were curious. Edilio and Roger were heading to their apartment before they hung up the phone. Dekka had immediately jumped forward to help and get away from her home for a few days. Even years after the FAYZ she was eager to step forward and help Sam once more.

They had called Bug but his dad had hung up before they even had a chance to talk to him. Astrid had already called him before and so now he knew her voice and was not pleased with her. They tried the farm girl called Emily who actually seemed willing to come, though no one knew her well enough to guess why. She claimed it would take a day or two, but that she would be there. Then they tried Jill. She was unsure but then her older brother Derek took the phone, he sounded generally sorry as he turned them down and hung up. Then there was Sinder who - as everyone had known - had spent some time in a psychiatric ward after the FAYZ ended and had only recently come out. Astrid didn't push for her to come but after a long silence she whispered that she could come, but there was no promise that she would stay.

Then they wanted to call a few normals as well. Cookie was actually the first person to show up. He beamed at Astrid and the first words out for his mouth were; "Is Lana here?"

Astrid glanced at Sam nervously. None of them could stand to ask Lana to come. Eventually they probably would but not until very last. Cookie accepted this and took a seat in silence. They had hid Caine back in Diana's bedroom. This would give them a chance to actually explain him to everyone else before they all tried to attack him.

John downright refused. No explanation. Anna and Emma agreed to come. And so did one other boy who had been one of Edilio's soldiers. Everyone else turned them down or they couldn't get in contact to actually ask them. They were still making calls when Diana came back, however it did seem to slowly be growing hopeless. A few people did seem generally interested but they lived too far away and had no way to get to them.

When Diana burst through the door, Cookie sat with Anna, Emma and Quinn on the small sofa Sam and Astrid had moved back into the main room. They needed lighter furniture. Cookie looked ridiculously cheerful as he nibbled biscuits Sam had handed out. The twins stayed cuddled together, Emma shooting Anna looks as if to blame her for being here. And Quinn seemed eager to help and soon began to make phone calls of his own.

"What the..." Diana blinked, staring at them.

"Diana!" Cookie beamed. "Good to see you again!"

"What is he doing here?!" Diana snapped. Then saw the twins. "What are they doing here?!"

"Calm down!" Sam snapped, hanging up his cellphone and tying in a new number from his list. "We're getting everyone we can to come. We need help."

"We need to talk right now!" Diana shrieked. She dropped one bag and held the other carefully at arms length.

"What? What's wrong, Diana?" Astrid asked. Then someone picked up on the other line. "Hello? Manuela? It's Astrid. I-" She sighed as she heard the dial tone.

"Not joking!" Diana screamed. Everyone in the room jumped.

Astrid and Sam glanced at one another. Then slowly they set their phones down and marked their next caller. The two smiled at their guests before they followed Diana into her room where Caine was chewing on a chicken bone they had gotten him earlier and flicking through a magazine he had found on the side. He looked up, surprised, as the three of them crammed into the room.

"What's up?" Sam asked, Diana, shutting the door behind him.

Diana carefully set her bag down on the bed, moving like it was a bomb that could go off at any second.

"Thank God. I need to change now." Caine grumbled. He reached into the bag and pulled out the white vest, unravelling it.

"STOP!" Diana screamed. She moved to stop him but it was too late.

The lizard fell down onto the mattress and bounced slightly. Sam and Astrid both blinked down at the creature, unmoving and unaffected but both Diana and Caine shouted in fear and threw themselves down onto the floor.

"What are you doing?" Sam blinked.

"Is that..." Astrid blinked.

"It's the fire starter!" Diana snapped where she was hiding down on the end of the bed on her hands and knees. She slowly crouched up and stared at the lizard on the mattress but it's mouth was shut firmly. It could prise it open slightly but it didn't breath any fire. Instead it scrambled around, trying to pull free of the string around it's mouth by running in circles.

"But it's not starting fire." Sam stated.

"Oh really?" Diana snapped. "You could have fooled me! It's because I tied it's mouth shut, idiots!"

"Ow... Can... Diana... Get me up..." Caine complained.

Diana ran around the bed where Caine was lying, clutching his side and resisted the urge to curl into a ball. Slowly he was pulled back to his feet but instead leaned against the wall rather than sitting on the bed. He didn't want to be anywhere near that creature.

Astrid stepped forward and gently grabbed the lizard's tail, lifting it up into the air as she looked at it. It struggled, switching in her grip and slashing out with it's hands but it was unable to really defend herself. Even so Sam felt the need to step up beside Astrid and protect her in case it had any tricks. The lizard turned to glare at Astrid but she just stared it down until it seemed to sigh and actually give up fighting her. Slowly Astrid glanced around before she went over and grabbed one of Diana's hair bands.

"If this is what you say, best be safe." She explained as she tied the lizard up in a dozen hair bands and hair clips to keep it's legs from moving.

"How did you catch this thing?" Sam asked, stepping up to frown at it close up and make out the details of it's face. He could have sworn the lizard was pulling it's lips up like a frustrated human.

"Long story." Diana sighed. "Now why are these people in that room?"

"Long story." Astrid and Sam chimed with grins.

"How can you stand living with them?" Caine suddenly demanded. "I've only been here a few hours and I've nearly thrown up a dozen times."

There was a knock on the main door and then they heard Quinn calling; "Roger and Edilio are here!"

"Long story short," Sam said in a rush. "We're gathering everyone we can to help stop these crazy animal mutants. We just saw a report where a Prarie Dog with Duck's power sinking buildings and killing people."

"Long story short?" Diana repeated. "A couple of blonde morons were annoying me and I saved one of their lives by stepping on the things head."

"Okay then." Sam nodded with a hint of a grin. "Caine, stay here. Astrid, you and I continue to make the last few calls and Diana, can you slowly take the others aside and explain everything to them?" She raised her eyebrows angrily. "What?"

"I don't even know the full story! And I'm not a people person. Tell you what, Sam. I'll stay and keep Caine company." Diana snorted.

"Deal." Caine grinned.

Astrid had already given up. Diana was old Diana whenever Caine was around and that made it very hard for them to talk.

They had advised anyone that was coming that they might be staying the day, maybe even the night if possible. So far anyone willing to come had not objected to staying the night and had even brought over night bags. In the end they had everyone that was willing. Cookie, Quinn, Edilio, Roger, Anna, Emma, Emily, Sinder, Dekka, and a old soldier named Kevin Mice. Out of all the people they called it seemed so little but they were happy even a few people were coming.

"Right, Dekka, Emily and Sinder won't be here until later tonight because they live a lot longer away." Astrid explained. "But Kevin should be here soon."

"Right. When Kevin's here we'll explain everything we know to you guys." Sam began. "Then we can explain it to the girls later when they get here."

"Care to give us a hint?" Emma demanded.

Emma looked almost exactly like Anna. Same hair colour, face shape, size, weight and even right down to the eyebrow shape. The only difference was that while Anna had a blank face and smiled when someone she knew looked at her and still tried to smile when someone she didn't know glanced her way, Emma just out right glared at them. She clearly didn't want to be there. Anna must have nagged her. Anna probably wouldn't have come if she didn't know about Caine.

"It's about... That strange animal we saw on the TV. The one that was collapsing the buildings in New York." Astrid explained. "Did anyone see it?"

"No." They all chanted.

"Well... I'll wait until Kevin gets here." Astrid said, nodding her head.

They didn't seem happy and the next half an hour was an awkward silence with only the television on as Quinn had began to turn to the music channel. Anna and Emma seemed to be arguing quietly while Cookie was happily oblivious and Roger and Edilio had moved to sit on the single chair together in silence.

Kevin knocked loudly on the door, much like as if he was trying to kick the door down altogether. Astrid opened it with a smile but received a scowl in return.

Through out all the major fights they had in the FAYZ, Kevin had been in the background. Not out of the fights completely but never in the thick of it. He was small, someone said he had been born premature and that he just never caught up with everyone around him. He had bright blonde hair that had been long before, during and after the FAYZ with dark blue eyes, tanned and slightly skinny looking but with a round chubby face. He scowled at Astrid and marched into the room, immediately walking over to sit down on one of the garden chairs they had set up in the corner. He seemed to be wearing some kind of football outfit but Astrid wasn't sure since she didn't know the name of any teams.

"Okay so... I guess I best explain." Astrid mumbled, she had been dreading this part.

"Yeah." Emma demanded.

Astrid took a deep breath, swallowed, standing in front of them all and began to talk.

It took her almost an hour to get it all out in the open. That was due to her stumbling as she picked what to explain and what to leave out, and stalling and being interrupted by the people in front of her. Sam stood by her side the whole time, giving her support but not actually saying anything or joining in. She told them about the cat that had killed Abana, the lizard that had attacked Diana but she had somehow caught it and the Prarie Dog on the TV had the same powers as Duck and was obviously causing the buildings to collapse.

The one thing she did not tell them was that Caine was back and in the room just behind their heads. She needed to know who they could trust before she told them something as big as that. At the moment, if she was honest, it was because she didn't trust Emma or Kevin. Even Roger might be unsure because many people blamed Caine for deaths of friends and family. Astrid couldn't be sure Roger wouldn't blame Caine for Justin's death.

But it seemed like just the animals was enough to start an argument between them.

"You cannot be serious!" Emma snapped.

"Mutant animals?" Kevin sneered. "This isn't the FAYZ anymore!"

"I know that!" Astrid snapped.

"Clearly you don't!" Emma said standing. "Anna, let's go home."

Anna blinked, staring up at Emma before she looked over at Astrid and Sam. She had not believed in the fire lizard but by the sounds of it, there was more than one and Sam and Astrid had both seen at least two of these animals in person. She didn't really believe Astrid but she did believe Sam! But then it didn't make any sense. And she didn't want to get into an argument with her sister. But she wasn't going to be pushed around, either.

"I guess we'll be going." Anna shrugged but she scowled at Emma. "And stop bossing me around."

"Anna, please." Astrid begged. "You know I'm not crazy. Sam saw these creature too!"

Anna hesitated. She honestly did wish she could stay but even if she did believe what they were saying, what was she supposed to do about it? Her and Emma had left the FAYZ wall long before they had a chance to develope any strengths or talents with weapons. What were they supposed to do? They didn't have any survival instincts or any mutant powers either. All in all they were pretty useless...

"Sorry, Astrid." Anna shrugged. "I just... Don't get what I can do."

"You can help!" Astrid stressed.

"No. I can't." Anna shrugged. She glanced where Emma was waiting patient and gave Astrid a small smile. "Don't worry. I won't tell anyone about you know who."

"Who?" Emma demanded.

Anna shrugged with a smirk and headed for the door, Emma hurrying after her to demand to know who she was talking about. The others watched in silence before they looked at Astrid expectantly. She waited but no one else left the room or argued any further, though Kevin hadn't stopped scowling up at her.

"Anyone else who doesn't want to help can leave." Astrid suggested calmly.

No one moved.

"How are we supposed to help?" Roger asked. "I mean I want to. And I trust both of you but we're not warriors and mutants anymore."

"But we're not kids anymore, either." Sam pointed out.

"We stopped being kids years ago, dude." Quinn laughed.

"Why don't we just leave this to the police?" Cookie suggested. "I mean, we're back in the real world now. We should be leaving this to authorities and living our lives."

Sam glanced at Astrid. That was actually the thing he had been expecting her to say the minute anything weird started happening. Instead she was the first to jump forward and deal with the issue alone. Maybe Ripley ruined her faith in the cops.

"They don't know about this stuff. They have never dealt with it before." Astrid explained. "And if they knew they'd probably try and control the animals or steal their powers. I'm sure we've all seen the attempt and recreating the FAYZ."

Shared looks showed it all. Disgust. Horror. Confusion. Fear. And even contempt.

"Astrid's right." Kevin said. Astrid had to do a double take there. She could have sworn Kevin had not only not believed her ten seconds ago but that he was purposely hating and disagreeing with her on everything she told them. His tune changed rather quickly. He saw her look of disbelief. "Well you are. I mean I don't really believe there are random mutant animals about, but the pigs are useless and stupid. All they'll do is pick on us! And probably screw the whole thing up afterwards anyway. We might as well handle this ourselves."

"Uh, yeah, right." Astrid nodded. She looked back at the others. "You know the story. We need to know who's in."

Cookie, Edilio and Quinn's hands shot into the air. Roger hesitated but then followed the three of them after a quick glance at Edilio. Kevin was even slower but after a few minutes had passed with Astrid turning and staring at him he raised his hand almost stubbornly.

"Okay." Astrid said. "Now I need you all to raise your hand, left hand."

Everyone stared at her. Edilio slowly raised his followed by Roger. Then Quinn, Cookie and, once again a few minutes later, Kevin.

"And repeat after me." Astrid said, raising her own hand to copy them. "I swear, under the oath of God and in the name of my family; that anything said here, is not spread anywhere else." They chanted after her. "I swear not to tell anyone what I see or hear." Again they all copied her. "Okay. Now we can show you all something else to do with the story and we ask you not to overreact."

Everyone frowned at her.

"Caine is alive." Sam said when Astrid looked at him for help. She looked alarmed but he just shrugged. "What? How do you gently say that?"

"Caine?! Like Caine Soren?! The psychopathic mutant freaky moof!" Kevin roared, jumping to his feet.

"HEY!" Came a shout that made them all jump. "I resent that! Mutant, maybe! Freaky, okay! Moof, yes! But Drake was the psychopathic! I was a visionary!"

Every head turned to the door. It was still closed but they knew the voice had clearly come from that room. Kevin looked from the door and glanced over at Astrid who was blushing now and ducked her head, sighing. This was not going as planned. She stepped forward and tried to gain some control over the situation but Kevin was already marching towards Diana's door.

"Wait a second!" Sam called, hurrying to catch up.

Kevin threw open the door only for it to slam closed again. Diana leaned against the wooden frame and scowled at Caine who was snickering on the bed.

"What the hell is going on here?" Kevin snapped.

"I will explain when you sit down." Astrid said with a scowl.

"Yeah, Kev." Edilio said with a frown. "Come and take a seat and let them finish explaining."

Kevin frowned but found it hard to argue with Edilio. He had basically been his leader throughout the FAYZ.

So he sulked passed Sam and slouched down in his seat, glaring ahead at Astrid like it was her fault this was happening. As soon as he was settled Sam went and stood by his side like a personal body guard.

"So what is the deal with all this?" Edilio frowned. "Caine? As in Caine, Caine?"

"Caine, Caine." Sam nodded.

"How?" Roger whispered.

Astrid started again to explain the whole story as to how she had stumbled across Caine while in the park. She didn't mention Anna's name but she did vaguely say a girl helped her with him, bringing him back to their apartment. Then she was able to tell them how Caine had witnessed the lizard along and the cat when it had attacked him at Abana's. While she was at it, she quickly ran them over on their theory that the higher the level of power the more human you were, which was why Caine was here and human and why Bette and Fire starter were animals.

The door to Diana's bedroom opened and the two of them stood there listening in. Caine leaned against the door frame, pretending he was being casually but really it was because his head was leaving him dizzy. After long stares everyone's eyes eventually found their way back to Astrid and Sam at the front again.

"Why didn't you tell all of us this to begin with?" Roger frowned. "Anna and Emma would have believed if you had."

"Because I honestly didn't trust Emma. She didn't want to be here and if I'm honest then you could all get a lot of money and praise by turning Caine in." Astrid explained. "But I'm counting on your honesty and promise that you won't. In other words I'm trusting all of you."

Kevin suddenly laughed. "That why Albert ain't here?"

Even Astrid could join in with a smile for that comment. They didn't hate Albert, he had saved a lot of their lives by getting them working, but that still didn't make him a friend to any of them. At least not after he had abandoned them all after the Plague and then been parading around in front of the cameras with a smug smile ever since the walls came down.

"Pretty much." Sam nodded with a grin.

"Okay then." Edilio nodded. "So, you want our help. I'm fine with that. But what are we supposed to do?"

"From what we have figured out. Or guessed. The creatures are killed in the same way they were killed in the FAYZ." Astrid explained.

"So we have to kill them the way they died?" Quinn frowned.

"We think so. We hit the Bette cat over the head and she died." Astrid nodded.

"The only problem is certain people were not killed as naturally as that." Sam grumbled. "The lizard girl who we assume was the fire starter was killed with my light. And so was Brianna... And Duck was crushed along with the Gaiaphage."

"So how are we supposed to kill them?" Edilio blinked.

"Maybe a variation of how they died?" Astrid guessed.

"This is sounding a lot more complicated..." Cookie mumbled.

"What about non-dangerous powers?" Kevin blinked. "I mean... Like... Orsay. She died. But all she could do was see into our dreams."

Astrid and Sam shared a look. "We're not completely sure. But Bette's power was pretty far off. We think maybe that the powers have grown because all Bette could do was make light but the cat her could make it burn and make it bigger. It's a lot more dangerous."

"I'm not sure about this." Roger said, suddenly sounding nervous. Roger wasn't a soldier. He was a parent type figure.

"We need soldiers." Sam explained. "To fight and kill these things, but we also need people with brains to help us find these things."

Roger seemed to calm slightly after that. He could do that. He could help research these things and find them and what they were and how to kill them.

"So... Who's in?" Sam asked.

Every hand in the room rose into the air. And this time with no hesitations.

* * *

**26) I need a name for Fire Starter, even if it's just to call her something! Any ideas?**

**27) Have any of you met Michael Grant? **

**Also, since a lot of you people are guessing the Sekhmet is Jack, I'm going to let you in and tell you that it isn't him. You need to remember two things. A) there was a dog who could shoot light beams. And B) their powers have definitely evolved to much more dangerous. **

**No more clues. You will be finding out soon the truth. I'd also like to say the theory that they have come up with isn't reliable...**


	13. Chapter 13

"The fact that you agree with them, just goes to show how badly you screwed up even helping them to begin with!" Emma snapped, storming down the street hard enough to feel the pavement through her sandals.

"The fact that you are still having a go at me is starting to seriously piss me off!" Anna snapped through gritted teeth. "We are not clichés! There is no a quiet smart twin and a rough bossy twin that tells the quiet one what to do all the time! If there were, I'd be the bossy one!"

"What the hell are you talking about?" Emma blinked.

"I'm talking about you speaking for me back there!" Anna snapped. "I am perfectly capable of making my own choices."

"Like chosing to lie to your only sister?"

"I'm not lying to you!" Anna said, throwing her hands into the air. "I'm just not telling you something that is none of your business. I know Sam, I dated him, and I know Astrid too and I trust them both to handle it on their own. So I am letting them do their thing while I stay out of it. And I am making sure that you stay out of it too."

"You know Sam? You dated him years ago! And you've only spent, like, a day with Astrid!" Emma argued.

The two girls had not stopped arguing with one another since they had left Sam's front door. Emma was frustrated her twin was keeping secrets by not telling her who this secret person was and Anna still wasn't happy with the way she had tried to boss her sister around like that as if she couldn't speak for herself. Now neither of them could seem to settle down. At first they had tried giving each other the silent treatment but when that didn't satisfy them they had started shouting and screaming at each other. And the longer they fought the more upset they grew with one another. It was starting to draw attention from others who happened to pass by but neither sister cared.

**G*O*N*E**

Meanwhile, Sinder was being let out of the taxi cab and slowly shut the door behind her as gently as if it was made out of glass. She reached with shaking hands into her purse and handed over a good chunk of her money that she had been raising for no reason. The other half would have to be used to get her home again unless she called her father to come pick her up. She really didn't want to do that. She hadn't even told her parents that she was going out in the first place. If Sinder did they probably would have freaked and kept her locked in the house like they had been trying to do since she had been released from the psychiatric hospital.

Even now she was being forced to see a therapist every week to talk about her feelings and her thoughts and anything she wanted. Of course the problem was, Sinder didn't want to talk about anything, they were making her. It was horrible and it seemed a day didn't go passed that Sinder wasn't crying for at least half an hour. Now she had somehow convinced herself it would be a good idea to come and find Sam after he had specifically told her that the reason they wanted her was because it had something to do with the FAYZ.

The FAYZ. The place of her nightmares and she was willingly walking back into it? What was the matter with her?

Sinder whimpered as she watched the taxi drive away. Tears filled her eyes at the same time as her lip shaking and she very nearly broke down on the ground when she remembered how lovely Sam had sounded on the phone. Sam had kept telling her she didn't have to come. That it would be okay. That everything would be okay.

Everything would be okay.

Everything would be okay.

Sam said everything would be okay.

repeating those words in her head seemed to help somehow. Slowly she pulled out the address tucked into the waste band of her dark purple skirt and made sure the thin black leather belt was facing ahead. Ever since she returned she had become rather OCD. She had to look perfect. Everything had to be on straight.

The address was clear and she glanced around.

She had checked the way several times and was sure she knew it but still Sinder found herself hesitating.

This was a lot to be happening to her. Maybe she should just head home. Sam said he wouldn't mind if Sinder wanted to stop. But she would mind! She would mind if she gave up!

Sinder needed to find some place where she could breathe. Trees. She loved trees. Even after the FAYZ her love of gardening hadn't stopped and the only place she could really calm down was when she was in the wild. It was the reason her parent's had turned their entire garden into a plant sanctuary. There were flowers of every kind, bushes as high and thick as her, trees that towered over the house, grass and dirt laid down everywhere. It was up to Sinder to really keep the place looking nice but she liked it that way because it kept her busy and happy.

She needed to find a garden or trees...

There.

It was a house that hadn't yet been sold. It was crisp clean and new and so was the front garden. The grass was bright and cut perfectly in place with roses and tulips all around the edge of the garden with a bright white fence on the outer border. There were two medium-sized trees in either corner beside of the house that offered plenty of shade and was also bright green like the grass. It looked like someone out of a cartoon. Something so perfect it had to have been dream. It couldn't be real.

It looked beautiful. Just looking and it and Sinder could feel calm spread through her body like cooling medicine.

She had it all planned. Sinder was going to settle down under the tree, maybe shut her eyes for five or ten minutes and then she was going to head to Sam's and help out as best as she could and maybe gain some of her old self back. Her therapist had said that getting out in the world was best. He told her not to push herself but not to hide away either. So, here she was.

Sinder hurried down the street and turned left, heading into the garden and straight to the nearest tree on the side. It was bigger than she had originally thought but that just made the shading bigger for her to sit under and hide from the sun. The sun was naturally but Sinder didn't like it. It was bright... Bright like... No. No, Sinder was not going to remember that day, not while she was settled under the tree and safe. She was not going to remember that day, not while here.

Sinder slipped down and leaned against the tree. It was slightly wet on the ground and the tree felt damp but it was cool and comforting. Sinder's eyes shut and she leaned against the tree, taking slow deep breaths to calm her frustrated mind. The garden was the perfect place for her.

**G*O*N*E**

Emily and Dekka had never spoken in their lives. They didn't even know the other person existed, nor had they seen one another, until they somehow sat with Emily in front of Dekka on the coach while she sent Sam a text message. The two of them purposely sat and hoped no one would sit beside of them for the long ride because neither was sociable. They had brought expensive tickets at the last moment, Dekka leaving a note for her parents explaining what she was doing while Emily just told her brother to let them know she was going out.

It was a miracle the two of them were even on the same coach. They lived a long way from one another but Emily had been on a coach that passed through Dekka's town when it had broken down and it was how she ended up climbing the steps, her large backpack being stored in the compartment with her phone in hand and her mind somewhere else.

"Hey... Sam..." Emily mumbled as she took her large seat at the first empty place she could find, sitting on the isle seat to make it harder if someone wanted to sit beside of her. "I'm... On... My... Way... Going... To... Be... A... Couple... Of... Hours..." She even swung her body around facing the window to shun people away.

If anyone was more surprised at getting a call to help Sam and Astrid it would have been Emily. She had spoken to a maximum of three different people/groups in the FAYZ. There had been Jack, who had driven by and had fixed Brother's WII. Then she had been in frequent contact with that idiot Zil who had stored weapons at her home in exchange for more games, not that they could play them after a while but the collection was nice. Zil only they knew them because one of his men, Turk, had visited Brother's birthday party years back. And finally there was Caine. He had been a right nasty freak and had threatened her and her brother. Apart from that her and her brother had survive living secluded on their own. They had a small personal garden where they grew food, they had a well and, if they were careful, then they could clean and drink the water. They had then stayed out of any major fights and had hidden away in their home from the bugs and Gaia. The day Emily found out the walls had come down was the day she had been using her powers and they had just vanished.

After that Emily and her brother had been reunited with their family. Because they had not been involved and hardly anyone knew about them, they had quickly been ignored and were able to move back to their home and live life as normal.

Only that was a problem for Emily. She didn't want normal. She hated how boring it was. She wanted to get her powers back and live alone again to survive. But that was hard to do when her parents refused to let her breath. Brother was happy to have life normal again, he was also happy that now Emily was just as normal as him, but Emily wanted excitement. Which was why she jumped at the chance to get away from her smothering parents and visit the so called hero of the FAYZ. It would be nice to meet the man both Caine and Zil had hated so much.

"Excuse me?" Came a voice from directly behind her.

Emily looked up with a scowl, ready to snap at anyone who wanted to sit beside her and ruin the peace of being able to really stretch. There was a dark skinned girl behind her. She looked almost scary with a sullen face, a hoop nose ring and eyes that seemed to be focussed too much on her face for Emily's liking.

"You're going to meet Sam Temple?" Dekka said slowly. It was a guess since Sam was a common name but something about this girl in front seemed... Well the only way to put it would be FAYZ Material.

"Yes... Are you?" Emily turned around completely in her seat.

"Yeah." Dekka nodded.

Emily hesitated and moved around to sit beside of her. She only did it because it was easier than looking over her shoulder and the way she saw it, it kept other people from sitting beside either of them. Dekka frowned slightly, not liking the way she just sat down. Dekka liked her space but chose not to say anything since she was curious about this girl she had never seen before.

"Do you know why he wants us to come?" Emily demanded.

"No." Dekka said. "Who are you? I don't recognise you."

"You wouldn't." Emily said bitterly with a fake smirk. "My name's Emily. Emily Foss."

"I know you." Dekka said suddenly, looking ahead as the coach began to move like she had lost interest.

"You do?" Emily frowned. She was sure hardly anyone knew about her.

"Sam found out about you and told us all to leave you alone." Dekka explained. "He didn't want to start anything but I think he secretly hoped you might come and try and join our teams. He said you had the power too."

Emily blinked and faced forward as well. It was weird how much she didn't know. But that had always been okay as long as she knew that people know just as little about her and her family and life. But it seemed that wasn't true. It seemed more people knew about her than she originally thought.

"Who are you?" Emily asked her.

"Dekka."

"You had the power?"

"I could lift gravity."

"Got a last name?"

"Yup."

That was all the answer Emily needed. She turned back to her phone, slouching down and sending text messages back and forth between friends. Dekka didn't seem to do anything, she just sat there staring out the window in complete silence. It was half unnerving, half peaceful.

**G*O*N*E**

Roger and Quinn took Astrid's computer and settled in Sam and Astrid's bedroom at her desk to work together in peace. They opened a word document and began to make a set of tables on the blank page. The first table was was of a list of the mutants that had died while in the FAYZ, then they made another column of what their powers that these mutant children had, and another of how they had died. Roger did the typing with fast fingers that flashed over the keyboard in a rush, while Quinn sat by his side and rethought it over and over again in case that they might have missed any. As soon as they finished that table they made a second table, this one of the different animals that they knew of and whose powers they had taken. They made a final list including a X for those that were dead, a tick for those that were caught and a question mark for those that were unsure of. They had a lot of empty spaces for those they had no idea what the animals would be. It was slow but Roger found himself enjoying the work and Quinn preferred this than what Sam, Astrid, Kevin and Edilio were doing.

Those four had settled in the main room, moving everything out of the way and pushing it to the corner of the room against the walls so they had space in the middle of the room. Diana had put the lizard in a plastic box she had previously kept some bits of scrap and they had placed that box in the middle of the room. It might have burned the whole box down into a gooey melted mess to get free but it was still tied up and trapped with it's mouth pinned firmly shut. They had no idea what they were supposed to do with it but they wanted to test and see what kind of substitutes they could get away with. If not then they were in a lot of trouble. Sam couldn't get his light back. So they had gathered fire, torches, heaters and anything else hot and bright that could come close to Sam's light. They were going to practice and even test if it was possibly to kill it some other way that wasn't the exact way it died.

And finally Diana and Caine were not doing anything. Sam had suggested Caine stay in her room and catch some more rest but secretly he still hoped Diana would be able to talk to him now and get some more information out of him that no one else could since she was no longer screaming at him. The two of them sat on the bed, talking quiet and flicking through Diana's magazines and books that she had, but she didn't actually have very much. Mostly it was fashion or gossip. Caine quickly grew bored and threw the books down at the end of the bed.

He was bored but he didn't actually want to help out the others either. Let them do the hard work. Especially when he was still injured.

"The FAYZ is a sucky place." Diana sighed when they began to slowly talk about other things. Somehow the conversation was rounding back to the FAYZ after they had been wondering how many people were actually going to come now to help. "I mean... Everyone thinks it is a terrible place, of course. But the problem is that some people like Sam and that Kevin Creep are all kind of excited to have it back. They think they have no other purpose. I mean Kevin says that he doesn't care but the truth is he does. He wants it back. He wants to be a soldier again. And Sam doesn't want to play hero but if he isn't playing hero then he isn't doing anything. But even if that's true... How can he honestly miss the FAYZ?"

"I miss it." Caine said suddenly.

"What?" Diana whispered, turning to stare at him.

"I kind of miss it." Caine shrugged. "Don't get me wrong. I didn't enjoy the starving, or the flesh eating buts or the Gaia or any of that stuff... But I did enjoy being there. I was someone in the FAYZ. I was King, and I was Mayor and I was one of the oldest people and I was one of the strongest people." He sighed. "Out here not only am I a nobody but now I'm a fugitive that needs to stay locked up to avoid being arrested... And locked up... Do you see the irony in that? Anyway. Even before the FAYZ I was practically a nobody that everyone ignored or treated like a evil boy. I kind of miss it."

Diana looked furious. Her face had gone white, her eyes narrowed and her lips thin. Caine stared at her and wondered how long before she started screaming at him again. He knew he couldn't win with her. If he lied then she would find out and be mad at him for lying and if he told her the truth then she got pissed at her because of his views. Best just be honest and hope she understood it and if not then maybe she would get over it faster than if he lied. Caine was slowly learning the ways of a girl.

She moved and suddenly began to clean up. Diana shuffled through the room and purposely cleaned everything up and moved it all out of the way even when it didn't need to be moved. She pushed things everything under the bed, Diana went to her draws and began to resort it all out and then rearranged everything else that was on the draws and windowsill. She did this just so she didn't have to look and focus on Caine anymore. She just needed keep her eyes and hands busy. Diana was so furious with him at that moment. How could he honestly miss it? There was something wrong with him. He was just as sick in the head as when they had actually been in the FAYZ.

Caine waited, wondering how long she would be cleaning for. He gave her a few minutes but then grew impatient and decided to say the one thing to bring her back to the conversation.

"I dream of Little Pete." Caine said suddenly.

"What?" Diana's head snapped up so fast she nearly heard it snap.

"That got your attention." Caine laughed.

"So was that a joke?" Diana said, getting annoyed all over again.

Caine shook his head. "Nope. I was serious. I have them every time I go to sleep. I dream of Little Pete. He comes to me and talks in this big white empty room."

"What does he say?" Diana asked, crawling back onto the bed and kneeling in front of him.

Caine hesitated. He just wanted Diana to stop cleaning and maybe shock her but now he wasn't so sure about talking about it.

"I told you about my feelings of the FAYZ." Diana grumbled sensing his hesitance. "Be honest with me in return."

"I can't be completely sure. It's all fuzzy and confusing." Caine began. "But I do remember him thanking me. I remember him saying he was thankful and that it was time to go. I remember arguing about something and he said he would do something and then that's it. Three times I have seen him and that is all I have gotten so far. Everything else is like blocked like I'm under water and it's splashing around my ears and my visions blurred and it fades in and out like someone playing with the volume of the TV."

"That is..." Diana couldn't come up with a word and just waved her hands in the air in front of her.

There was a bang and a shriek that caused them all to jump. Diana leapt off the bed and threw open the door, sticking her head out and opening it so Caine could see too.

In the middle of the room the lizard was lying, rolling occasionally because it's arms were stuck down to its side. Beside of it was a burnt piece of wood and a bit of the table had caught fire as Kevin and Edilio furiously beat it down with tea towels. Astrid had a hand over her mouth and Sam was holding tiny fire crackers in one hand and a set of matchstick in the other.

"Did you guys try to blow it up?" Diana laughed.

"Well..." Edilio shrugged with a grin. "It was worth a shot. Onto the next one!"

"Let's try mixing two together." Astrid said. "Get the torch and get the lighter. Maybe it's a mental thing."

"Mental is the right word." Diana grinned and looked back at Caine.

Suddenly he found himself smiling. She was so beautiful. And so happy. Caine missed the FAYZ but if he had to give it up just to be with Diana and make her happy he would in a heartbeat.

**G*O*N*E**

It wasn't exactly healthy, but Sinder loved falling asleep outside under a cool shading tree in the sun. It was both warm, relaxing, fresh and all in all naturally perfect. She opened her eyes, smiled and took a deep breath, cleansing her lungs. The air smelt clean. It smelt fresh like laundry just out the machine. Sinder felt tears again but these were tears of happiness. If she could, she would never leave this spot ever again, she would stay there and live there. She would die there if she could. But she couldn't.

It was time for her to get up and go and meet Sam. She had promised she would meet him. God knows how long Sinder had been asleep. At least the sun was still up.

Sinder stretched her limbs and yawned loudly. She was still tired and now her back was feeling stiff but her good feeling wasn't going to leave that easily. Then, as her head was being lifted into the air as she stretched her boy, she noticed the butterfly that was settled on the back of her wrist. It was beautiful, white and plain with a black outline along the wings and a little black body. It was beautiful.

"So pretty." Sinder whispered.

And so lucky. Bugs and creatures like this were so lucky they could just live in the wild and in the world. If Sinder had to be any other creature apart from human she would chose a butterfly in a heartbeat. They had everything she wanted. They had everything she wished she could have.

Then the butterfly... It bit her! Butterflies don't bite. And yet this one had bitten her hard enough to make her shriek in shock and snap her wrist back and forth, trying to knock it off. The bite hurt like a sharp knife or needle had been driven through her flesh. The butterfly refused to let go of her skin. Finally it jumped up and flew into the air, back up into the tree where it must have come from. Sinder gasped, sitting under the tree and holding her hand to her chest. When she looked up the butterfly was still up there, watching her from a long branch.

Sinder shouted in fear again and crawled forward away from the tree. She jumped up and ran from the gates, outside and back into the streets again.

"Oh my God," Sinder sobbed rubbing her hand where two small holes were bleeding tiny droplets of blood.

She stared at the bike marks, confused and trying to remember when and where a butterfly would bite a human like that, when it suddenly began to change. It still let out small drops of blood but the outer circle of the bite marks was changing colour. It was turning green. It was turning a bright green colour. If it had been dark, Sinder would have bet the colour would have glowed. It was terrifying seeing the colour of her skin changing to a lime green and spreading from the butterfly bite. It was spreading. The colour was spreading away from the bite and all along her whole arm.

"Ah!" Sinder screamed. "Ah! Someone! Someone help! Help me please! Help me!"

Emma and Anna had still been arguing as they turned towards the house. They had reached their front door and even began to open it up when they heard the screams for help. Emma hesitated but Anna was off, racing down the pathway and around the corner, following the screams.

Anna didn't recognise her at first. They didn't know Sinder that well but her face had come up after the FAYZ because she had the power to help plants grow. She had been on the news with several other people.

"Emma! Come help!" Anna shouted over her shoulder as she ran to Sinder's side.

Sinder sobbed and rubbed her arm furiously like she wanted to clean her arm free from the green stain. Her sobbing was hysterical and she was throwing her body around, stumbling into the road and falling down. Luckily there were no cars coming at the time. She continued to rub and scratch at her arm where the bite marks were. They were still tiny and no longer bleeding but the green was still spreading even more over her whole arm, from her wrist to her elbow.

When Anna got there she had clawed her arm, scratching it. Not hard enough to bleed but certainly hard enough that it had to hurt and it left white lines all up her arm. Anna grabbed her under the arms and tried to pull her out of the road but she was kicking and screaming the whole time and making it near impossible. By the time Anna had her lying on the side walk Emma was back by her side with a mobile in hand and an expression of fear that matched Sinder.

"Should I call an ambulance?" Emma gasped.

"Yeah!" Anna gasped. "Yeah! Do that!"

Sinder sobbed and waved her green arm in the air. It didn't hurt and if anyone had felt what Sinder was feeling they probably wouldn't have been screaming or crying like she was. But it wasn't even the arm, it was the fear. Her arm was green. A bug had bitten her. It was like the FAYZ and it was horrible. She should have never come. It was a mistake. And now look at her, it was like her nightmares all coming back as one.

At least she wasn't alone. Sinder was clutching Anna's hand now as she looked up at them both with wide terrified eyes. The green in her arm had slowly stopped spreading but it was still shining.

"What the hell could do this?" Emma whispered as she held the phone to her ear.

"B-B-"

"She's trying to say something!" Anna gasped.

"B-B-But-Butterfly." Sinder gasped as her eyes rolled and she blacked out.

* * *

**28) What do you think of the killer butterfly? You'll find out what's happening to Sinder in the next chapter. **

**29) ... Slowly running out of question. Any you guys wanna ask? About Light or anything else?**


	14. Chapter 14

It was getting dark when Dekka and Emily finally showed up. The sun was not yet set completely but it was getting close to it and now rays of light stroked across the blue sky. This was Dekka's favourite time of the day since she had returned home. She had come to truly appreciate the way the pink, orange, red and yellow was stretching in with the blue like a set of fingers reaching or like a paint brush had smudged the sun and the sky itself had slowly become a whole rainbow. And then there was the glow from the sun that reflected off of the white clouds overhead. It was definitely the most beautiful and colour time of day. A good time to join the others, though they wouldn't be able to do much before they would need to rest. Luckily they had both rested often while on the coach ride over. And while it had been stuffy in the coach after a while but the air outside was still warm with the wind picking up slightly so it was more comfortable for them when they eventually climbed down the steps and collected their bags.

They hadn't spoken for the rest of the trip to on the coach though they had looked like they wanted to and Emily frequently glanced up at Dekka. She assumed she was alone but Dekka constantly glanced over at Emily on her old Nokia phone whenever she wasn't looking at her. They were both as interested in each other as they thought just because they hardly knew anything about one another. Emily had been speaking to two different friends on her phone but mostly they seemed to be sending faces to one another or sending made up words rather than actually talking. Dekka found Emily a strange girl, scowling the whole time even when sending cheerful messages. She reminded her a bit of Dekka. Then she wondered if this was just her personality (like it was Dekka's) or if it was an after effect because of the FAYZ (like so many others).

After a while they had slept for a few hours each before waking and staring ahead in more silence. Emily was glad she had sat next to Dekka because after two more stops the coach got very crowded and now two elderly pair took the seat Emily had originally claimed. The worst was the loud mouths running to the back and laughing loudly enough to cause both Dekka and Emily to turn and scowl in their direction. But finally their stop came and Emily stood, only carrying her phone while Dekka grabbed a small backpack from above the compartment over their heads.

They had gotten off the coach together, stepping down the black steps. Emily had collected her large backpack and Dekka had grabbed two different suitcases but they were both small much like her backpack. Soon they had set off and, much like on the coach, they walked in silence the whole way on foot. Emily trailed slightly behind since she hadn't gotten out much and she did enjoy looking around at all the buildings and people around them. Also Dekka took much larger strides than she did and seemed a lot more excited to get there than Emily, probably because she couldn't wait to meet up with Sam and Astrid again. Not for the first time Emily wondered what Sam The Man was going to be like in person... It was like meeting a celebrity that everyone else always talked about but she didn't really care about all that much. Like she was only meeting him because everyone else said she had to.

Finally they found the street they were looking for after Dekka stopped and asked for directions from a strict looking officer.

"Excuse me?" Dekka asked politely. "Can you help us?" She showed him the address she had written in her black pocket sized notebook.

The man looked up and almost smirked when he looked at her. Dekka found it weird but chose not to say anything about it since they still needed help from him.

"What's your name?" The man beamed down with a clear false smile.

"Why?" Dekka frowned. She never liked giving personal information to strangers, she had been this way before, during and after the FAYZ.

Emily pushed forward to take over. They wanted to get this done out of the way. "My name's Emily, this is Dekka. Who are you?" She tried to sound polite but forceful in the same was as this man was being with them.

"My name's Ripley. I'm the officer for these streets." He smiled down at Emily and it somehow seemed warmer than the smile he had given Dekka.

"Can you help us?" Emily asked.

Ripley smiled and leaned down slightly as he began to explain to Emily just where to walk to find these apartments. Dekka again found this weird and frowned at him but said nothing. Maybe she was over reacting. He probably was just a normal guy and didn't mean to sound so dismissive of Dekka and so kind to Emily. It wasn't a race thing... Or anything as far as she could tell. She was over thinking it.

By the time she came back, Ripley was standing and Emily was nodding, memorizing everything he had told her carefully.

"You two be careful now. Are you going to meet a man named Mr Temple?" Ripley asked.

"That's right." Emily nodded.

Dekka frowned. He must have known Sam pretty well to know his exact floor and room number. Again this was disturbing Dekka and she watched him closely.

"Are you friends?" Now he turned his eyes to Dekka and again she felt a slight sneer.

"Yes." Dekka said proudly.

Ripley nodded. "I'm going to pass by there later. So I'll check in and make sure you got there alright." He beamed down at Emily who smiled back up at him but Dekka could see the same suspicion in her eyes. She wasn't going to be fooled just because he was nice to her.

"Thanks." Emily nodded.

The two turned and began to walk once more. Emily took the lead slightly as she had paid attention of where they were going but Dekka never let herself fall behind, not really. Ripley quickly left their minds as they came close to Sam's.

When they knocked on the right floor they waited, glancing at one another. Neither of them were prepared for what was going to be thrown at them but neither was willing to back away either. They were very much alike but maybe too much so. If Emily thought she might be making friends, then it certainly wasn't going to be with this Dekka girl.

Astrid answered the door after a long few minutes and greeted the two of them cheerfully with wide open smiles. Dekka even let her hug her. Emily just stood watching the two of them as they stepped inside, talking quickly about how good it was to see one another. Dekka had never been a fan of Astrid but she did like the idea of calling her a friend, and they clearly were of some kind since they were so happy to see one another again. Astrid smiled and shook hands with Emily while leading the two of them inside.

Inside, all the furniture was pushed against the walls and Kevin was settled on a box that had been covered with two tea towels with Edilio standing in front of it in the middle of the room. It was clear they were hiding whatever was under the box. Emily glanced over at Dekka but she hadn't seemed to notice. As soon as Dekka walked into the room she walked over and greeted Sam with a tight hand shake, the two of them beaming at one another and even Sam couldn't resist taking a step forward and hugging her like Astrid had. As soon as Dekka was finished greeting Sam, Quinn, Roger and Edilio with Emily watching in uncomfortable silence, Astrid sat them on the sofa that had been pushed beside the door. Emily glanced over towards the two doors that were firmly shut and wondered which room was which as Dekka told the others how her life had been so far, but being surprisingly vague.

"I am going to explain some things to both of you, but then I need you both to swear you won't tell anything else we tell you here. A pledge to God and yourself." Astrid said, suddenly serious.

Dekka nodded and Emily hesitated. She didn't know anyone here. She didn't know any of this. While Dekka, much like Emily, was happy to get back into the game and did know everyone.

Her parents were much better than they had been before they had sent her to Coates Academy. They no longer freaked out whenever they saw her, though they still certainly didn't appreciate her using the 'L' or 'H' word in front of them at any point in the day. She certainly wasn't allowed another girlfriend (not that she was exactly looking. No one could ever replace Brianna). But home life had gotten better only it was so normal. After what they had been through, normal was not something she was exactly looking for in her life. Dekka needed something to do to distract herself from the dreams that plagued her over Brianna. It wasn't a crush, she knew that now. Dekka loved Brianna. It was why she couldn't get over her that quick.

A pretty girl from her college class named Rae had asked Dekka out. She was definitely pretty, smart and almost as spiritful as Brianna but of course no one could be as pretty, smart or spiritful as Brianna. They had the same class together but Dekka mostly kept to herself and Rae had a lot of friends. She ran in the popular cliché groups but they had sat together on occasion, they had even been partnered to work on some art projects when doing paintings and sketches of objects and people. But they hadn't sat down and had a real conversation together. And then out of the blue, Rae had caught Dekka during study hall. She had asked her out, plain and simple, dinner and a movie that saturday night, even offering to pay. And Dekka had said yes. It was the shock that made her say yes. But immediately she regretted it. She had caught Rae later after classes and confessed she wasn't ready to go out with anyone.

_"Thinking of an ex?" Rae said with a sad smile as if she had seen it coming. Her black wavy hair bounced around her shoulders when she shook her head. "I guessed as much."_

_"It's not that." Dekka mumbled. She felt so sad knowing why she couldn't go. She felt sad thinking about Brianna._

_"But you are interested in someone else?" Rae asked. _

_"Yes." Dekka swallowed hard. "She passed away and I..."_

_"Say no more." Rae smiled and gave Dekka a hug. Friendly and almost enough to make Dekka relax. "Just... Give me a call if you ever need to talk or... Maybe when you're ready to move on."_

Dekka snapped back to attention just as Astrid was asking if either of them had seen the reports from New York about the collapsing buildings that had just been on this morning before they had called them.

"I have." Dekka admitted. "There was... A... Rat that sunk into the ground."

"A prarie dog." Astrid nodded. "It had Duck's powers."

"Wait what?" Dekka frowned.

Astrid moved to explain about the animals and all they knew about them. The cat, the lizard and everything else that had been happening with these animals. The powers and the people they had attacked with them. She even admitted that they had been there when Abana had been murdered and that they had the fire starting lizard. Astrid had finally learned the name of the little girl who had died. Her name was Elizabeth Hester Ava Reyn. For such a long and interesting name no one bothered to find out until today because before today she had been put behind them in order for the rest of them to move on and to survive, but now she was back, it seemed right to refer to the lizard by her name at least.

"No way..." Emily whispered but there was a slight smirk pulling from the corner of her lips. This was exactly what she wanted. To be apart of the action this time!

"Way." Sam joined in.

"Show us." Dekka demanded, pointing at the box where they said Elizabeth Lizard was hiding.

Kevin climbed off the box and Edilio removed the tea towels covering it, revealing the lizard still rolling around inside, struggling to free itself and its mouth from the hair bands and pins. Neither of them reacted but Emily's heart jumped in her chest. Wow, this was real. Or otherwise they were all crazy and that was just a normal lizard tied up.

"So," Dekka paused. "What did you want us to promise not to tell? Was it the animals?"

"No. I need you both to raise your left hand." Astrid demanded.

After a long process, much longer than last time due to both Dekka and Emily interrupting her, they finally promised not to tell anyone anything outside of this little meeting. They both wanted in, Astrid could see it from the looks in their eyes. When they were done Astrid found she was at a loss for words and instead turned to look at Sam to do what he did best.

"Oh now you want the quick way?" Sam grinned. He looked at the girls and shrugged. "Seems Caine's alive and back too. In human form."

Dekka seemed to almost have been expecting this and didn't move. Emily however was not, and was pissed. She jumped up and glared at them just as the bedroom door opened and Caine stuck his head out with Diana. They must have been listening the whole time, waiting for their entrance. Emily turned and scowled at him but found she could not say anything.

"Hi again." Caine smirked.

"Go-" Astrid blinked at her language while Dekka smirked. "-Yourself."

"Look, let's ignore the fact that you hate Caine." Astrid said, pushing to block her glare aimed at him. "Most people in this room all hate Caine, or at the very least they can barely stand him on a good day. But this isn't about Caine. This is about these animals and the harm they can do and are doing. We need to stop them before they hurt anyone else."

Just like the first time, Emily wanted to know why they weren't leaving this to the police or even the other adults. She didn't seem to care or want to call the police but she did want to know why someone like Astrid and Sam weren't contacting them. Once again Astrid explained how they didn't know what they knew. She explained everything she had already explained and then added that she felt it was personal and that they might actually want to do it themselves.

Emily nodded her head like she was agreeing and Dekka almost smiled. "When do we start?" Dekka asked.

Sam laughed and stepped forward when the phone rang and disturbed their happy meeting. He froze mid step, worried it was his boss. He was not happy to hear Sam wasn't coming in and Sam had to come in early tomorrow to make up for it. Sam had promised but warned he might need to be taking his vacation early soon but he would need at least two weeks notice before he could have it. If he didn't wait he could lose his job!

Diana didn't seem to mind either way that her boss was angry at her, but she would need to head in to keep their income coming in to pay the rent.

"Someone going to answer that?" Edilio mumbled casually. He turned his attention back to the lizard rolling in the box.

Astrid hurried over and picked up the phone from its hook, holding it to her ear. She glanced around to make sure everyone else was quiet.

"Hello?" She asked, wondering if it was Sinder calling to cancel. Or someone else saying they changed their mind and wanted back in.

"Astrid? Is that you?"

"Anna?" Astrid frowned, recognising the voice. Then she felt hope. Maybe Anna was going to want to join back in again.

"Astrid, you know you said these animals were killing people?" Anna said, sounding scared. She was whispering down the phone which made it hard for Astrid to hear her over the sounds on the other end of the line.

"Yeah..." Astrid said slowly.

"Do animals include bugs?"

"... I... Anna have you seen something?" Astrid asked, she could see everyone was listening closely around her now.

"No." Anna moaned, sounding close to tears. "Look, Astrid. I'm at the hospital. Emma and I ran into Sinder on the way home and something was wrong with her. Her arm was green and she was shrieking and terrified. She nearly threw herself in front of a car in her freaking out mode and by the time we got to here we had to drag her back out of the way. Now her arm is pure green and she passed out."

"Where is she now? I mean. She's at the hospital." Astrid said, mentally slapping herself. "How is she? Is she okay? What's wrong with her?"

"They have her hooked up to all these machines now. She's all caught up. You know? They say she's in a coma but they don't know why or how, or even when she really went under. They say something must have bit her but they have no idea what because nothing that exist could have done something like that to her and her body. We don't know anything! And Sinder was so scared and now Emma and I are here and we don't know what to do!"

"Wait, what does this have to do with bugs?" Astrid blinked. "You don't know what happened then why did you ask about bugs and the animals?"

Anna was silent for a moment. "Sinder said it. When we got there we didn't know what was happening and then suddenly Sinder said that... It seemed like she was saying that... I could be wrong, maybe I'm over thinking it or I took it out of context but... Look she said that the thing that had attacked her was a butterfly. Like a real butterfly. She said that just before she passed out and... And I was wondering if it was a coincident or if... You're the Genius? So you tell me!"

Astrid hesitated then asked. "Are they letting anyone visit?"

"No." Anna moaned. "They don't know what it is and they're keeping her locked up in a room. We barely just got out of being locked up in case it was contagious. And that's only because they..." She stalled.

"They what, Anna?"

"They cut her arm, just a little to see if they could what it was. Like a poison or something. To see if they could find out what was wrong or something like that. In the end they just found something just as weird. And I don't know what it means and I don't get any of it..." Anna breathed when she realised she was babbling. "They found plants. Growing from her bones! Growing all inside of her! Not just that! It was poisoning her!"

"Can you come here?" Astrid asked.

"No. Emma is freaked. I need to be here for her. Is it a mutated bug or not?" Anna demanded.

"To be honest I don't know." Astrid whispered. "Just tell us the address where this happened and we'll check it out."

Anna wasn't sure of the exact address but she told them her own address and then where she went to find Sinder. That should help enough.

"It's the new house that's for sale." Anna explained.

"Thanks, Anna." Astrid smiled but it didn't feel right on her face. "That's a big help, don't worry, we'll sort this whole thing out."

"Um... I'll keep an eye on Sinder." Anna mumbled. "I feel bad for not doing anything so I'll keep an eye on her and send you guys updates if you want."

"Please." Astrid smiled again and this one felt genuine. "Thank you, Anna."

As they hung up Astrid turned to the others and swallowed hard. The news felt bitter on her tongue but she forced herself to snarl. "Sinder isn't coming."

"What?" Sam blinked. "Why? What is it? What's wrong? Why is she in the hospital?"

By now everyone was listening, having only heard a little of what Astrid and Anna said to one another. Roger and Quinn came out the room with Diana and Caine leaning in the doorway. Edilio and Kevin had stopped playing with the lizard and Sam, Dekka and Emily could not take their eyes off of her. Astrid felt sick and just wanted to sit down on the ground but she had to tell everyone everything. Just as Astrid began to explain there was a loud knock on the door.

"Oh for nugget's sake!" Astrid snapped, storming over to the door.

Normally Sam found it funny when Astrid said it like that. She had found her faith in God and so didn't like to say For God's Sake, and she couldn't say for Pete's Sake because then she thought of her younger brother. She didn't say anything but Sam knew she was still haunted by him. Even though she loved him so much. But now he couldn't find anything funny. Sinder was hurt. There was more trouble and Astrid was getting stressed.

"What?" Astrid snapped, throwing open the door. She froze and her eyes widened.

"Good evening," Ripley sneered. "Mind if I could come in and have that talk you promised?"

Diana turned and dragged Caine back into her room, slamming the door with a loud bang. Diana, like Astrid, was kicking herself of not thinking. They should have thrown Caine back into the room the minute they heard the knock of the door. But no one had been thinking after they got the call from Anna about Sinder and now they could very well pay for it.

"Mind if I come in?" Ripley grinned and pushed his way through before Astrid could stop him.

He practically pushed her aside and Dekka had to keep her from toppling onto the floor. Everyone stood watching Ripley now. No one moved apart from Kevin, who had suddenly thought of something and threw herself down onto the floor, blocking the lizard and the box from view.

"What do you want?" Sam demanded.

"Why, Miss Ellison and Ladris invited me over." Ripley said innocently.

Sam blinked and looked over at an equally confused Astrid. She had righted herself up and came to stand angrily beside of Sam.

"When?" Astrid snapped.

"The other day, remember." Ripley said innocently. "You and Miss Ladris had just gotten home and I had received complaints? You told me to come back later. Sadly, later I had to call in on some petty children having fights so I decided to pop by today instead. It's the same thing."

"No! No it is not!" Astrid snapped. "You cannot barge in here!"

Ripley completely ignored her. He glanced around, taking time to really look at everyone in the room. He paused a long smirk on Dekka who now fully glared at him. He glanced over at Emily but not for long while she frowned at him, and his eyes paused once again over Sam and Astrid while they just glazed over Roger, Quinn, Edilio and Kevin. He looked up at the two doors, one closed, one open. Astrid fumed with how well he knew their home, not even glancing at the bathroom but immediately fixing on the bedrooms.

"Where's Princess?" Ripley asked.

"She's asleep!" Astrid snapped. "Not that it is any of your business! We told you we don't know what happened and I asked Sam and he doesn't know either! Maybe someone broke in but caused too much noise and so ran away before they stole something!"

Ripley sneered down at Astrid. "So who are all your friends here?" He paused and looked at Dekka. "I mean... I know one of them."

"What is that supposed to mean?" Dekka growled.

"I know all the mutants of the FAYZ." He sneered.

Emily blinked and then covered her mouth and let out a giggle. This was why he had been so nice to her. He thought he knew all the freaks from the FAYZ but he didn't because he thought Emily was normal.

"What's so funny, Sugar?" Ripley asked.

Astrid stopped and silently thanked the Lord for the nickname he had given her. It was ten times better than being referred to as Sugar.

"Oh, nothing." Emily smiled, sickening sweet. "Just a personal joke."

Ripley frowned then gave her a smile. He turned to look back at Sam and Astrid, both of whom had not stopped glaring up at him. They were both looking angry but inside they were worried. If Ripley just went into Diana's bedroom he would no doubt be finding Caine hiding inside. They would not be able to do anything to stop him, short of hitting him over the head with a chair and getting arrested. And Sam was seriously considering it.

As if reading their mind he looked around the room slowly. No doubt taking in the fact that everything in the room was pushed against the wall and how Kevin was sat oddly with Edilio beside of him, both trying to casually hide the box behind them. Ripley was not stupid, he must be taking all of this in.

"Decorating?" Ripley sneered.

"Yes. Is that any of your business?" Sam snarled.

"Yes." Ripley shrugged. "What are all you doing here then? You never told me."

"We're having a party!" Sam growled. "You're not invited."

"Hurtful." Ripley sighed.

"You have to leave." Astrid snapped.

"Oh I do?" Ripley blinked.

"Yes." Roger was speaking up now.

"Who are you?" Ripley frowned.

"My name is Roger, and I am afraid to tell you that my parent's know the law, so therefore, so do I." Roger explained. Ripley raised an eyebrow down at him. "You cannot be here without a warrant. At least not unless you have the owners permission and you do not have Astrid's or Sam's so you have to leave now."

Ripley stared at him and then began to laugh loudly. "My, you really are a pain." He grinned like a snake then turned to Astrid and Sam. "Okay, I'm leaving. Just going to pop to the toilet if you don't mind."

Then he turned and headed straight into Diana's room.

**G*O*N*E**

The very first time It woke up was the first day of Its life. It had found Itself lying under a pile of leaves in a wooded area not too far away from the ocean. It had been aching for a while but after moving around It had been able to relax and think clearly for the first time since It had woken. From the moment It had woken up, It knew what Its purpose was in life. It had to find... Something... Someone... Okay, maybe It didn't know exactly what It was looking for but It had Its scent and It was going to search for them/it until It found whatever it was, or until It died.

After much time It had walked and run along the towns that surrounded It. Finally It found itself entering a small town after only a day or two of pure long travel. The town was not flashy, it was small, incredibly small, which made it easier for It to find what It was looking for. It still didn't know what that was but It knew It was getting close. The thing It was looking for was definitely in this very town.

But It still could not find who/what It was looking for. It searched all night when It wasn't moving around as much and when the town was much more still and quiet, giving It a chance to think clearly. During the day It curled up in private areas, under bridges, in abandoned or empty houses, alleyways and sometimes just in the street to sleep. So far no one had bothered It. Mostly they didn't see It, but when they did, they just turned and walked the other way.

Good. It didn't care about hurting people, but It didn't want to in case it brought attention on Itself before It could find it.

That night It woke as the sun was setting over the buildings. The disappearing light wasn't what had woken It. What had woken It was the two men dressed in strange uniforms that were leaning over him with grins on their faces. They had two sticks, on the end of each stick was rope that had been looped around in a large hole that Its head would fit in. They were talking to It, telling It to stay calm and moving to get the rope around Its head as if they were friends. But they were not friends and It was not going to let them put that rope around Its neck. No way was It going to be caught. It was not going to be trapped.

Barely ten minutes later, It was striding down the street with Its head held high with pride. Behind It, the two men lay on the ground. One of them had a broken skull and was silent and still, the other just had two broken shoulders where he had met with the brick wall and was sobbing and moaning in pain. Neither of them would be getting up any time soon.

Then It continued Its search.

* * *

**30) Any guesses as to what/who this _IT_ is?**

**31) Knowing what you do now about what happens, where would you have gone, The Lake? Perdido Beach? or Somewhere else to struggle to survive on your own.**

**Clove1113: Personally my favourite couple is Caine and Diana.  
But I do like Sam and Astrid, and Roger and Edilio, and I liked Brianna and Jack (though I know most people don't).  
And here is where I come across weird. I always thought Drake and Penny would get on great! :D (Mind you I do like reading CaineXDrake stories too... I have a weird mind!)**


	15. Chapter 15

Astrid let out a roar in anger and a little bit of fear because he knew exactly where the bathroom was and he knew that he was heading for Diana's room, but he didn't care. He was heading there on purpose!

Sam jumped over and tried to grab him by the shoulder but by then the door had already been thrown open and Ripley had stepped into the bedroom. Sam stumbled in behind of him, ready to throw him out before he could identify Caine and to file a report against him as soon as he asked Astrid how you would go about doing that when something stopped him. The others were frozen and glanced at one another, unsure of what else to do and instead were helplessly watching. But when Ripley stepped into the room he blinked and came to a stop, he looked around as he came to a stop and Sam had to squeeze passed him.

"Can I help you?" Diana frowned from where she was lying on the bed with a magazine in hand.

She was complete dressed, completely casual and the room was sparkling clean with no sign of Caine anywhere. If Sam didn't already know he was in there he would assume Caine was somewhere else in the apartment and that Diana was, in fact, alone. But unless Caine was hanging from his finger tips outside the window, he had to be in the room!

"This is not the bathroom!" Sam said sharply, stepping up in front of him and blocking his way. He was just as surprised to not find Caine in the room but he refused to let Ripley see that.

Ripley hesitated, glancing around the room like he was looking for something he was sure was in the room but didn't know where. Astrid knew he didn't know Caine was here (how could he possibly guess that?!) but he was definitely expecting something to be there. Maybe just because of the door being shut, added with all the people gathered here had him thinking suspiciously which was only increased when they all reacted so strongly to him entering the room... Or maybe it was just Ripley being same old annoying Ripley!

"Hello?!" Kevin snapped after a long moment of silence, drawing Ripley's attention to him.

"Get out of her room!" Edilio joined in.

"Now!" Quinn snapped.

Ripley turned to sneer at them all but eventually stepped out of the doorway and let Sam close it angrily behind of him. Diana still sitting on the bed watching them casually.

"You should be heading home now, kids." Ripley smirked at them, back to using his patronizing tone.

"We are not kids," Edilio said, glaring up at him but still he and Kevin remained in front of the lizard.

"And it's a slumber party!" Dekka growled. "We're sleeping."

Ripley looked directly at her and sneered again. His eyes were completely cold. His smirk seemed to forever be in place and he looked Dekka up and down like a teenage girl judging the new girl in her class. Everything about him was off-putting to her - his looks weren't exactly going to work on her - and now she knew why he was treating her so terribly without even getting to know her, was just icing on the cake. She had the urge to kick him and then throw him out the window. Dekka could only just imagine how Sam, Astrid and Diana felt having lived with him all this time.

Finally Ripley stared at them all a final time. Even when he was smiling at the normal people, it didn't quite look right and his eyes still judged them all.

"I suppose I'll be leaving you then." Ripley sneered. "By the way, you're a bit old for slumber parties, aren't you?"

Roger glanced at Sam with a shocked expression like he couldn't believe this man actually existed. While the others were too busy staring with open hate at Ripley. He smiled down at them, his expression completely innocent now. He walked towards the door but not before patting Emily heavily on the head like a dog. She responded by acting like a dog, lifting her head and snapping at his hand with her teeth bared.

That was one of the worst things about Ripley. There were a lot of other things but because a lot of the FAYZ kids were malnourished, they were probably not as tall or big as they should have been if they had the right vitamins. Emily and Kevin were good cases of this and unless you were as tall as him, Ripley treated you like you were a child. It was incredibly frustrating.

"Watch it," he said sharply to Emily before grinning again.

Then he was stepping outside. Sam was just about to slam the door when his foot paused and the door hit his heel instead. He turned, placing his foot firmly in the way and grinned at them again.

"Oh, before I forget, you better come with me, Mr. Temple." Ripley said.

"What? Why?" Astrid said, stepping up beside of Sam.

"Because he'll want to write an official statement, won't he?" Ripley asked innocently. "I mean, your home was broken into."

Sam blinked and looked at Astrid. They knew this was a trick. Ripley did not want to get a statement or a report or anything; he was probably hoping to grill Sam while he had him alone until he let something slip about why they were all here. The problem was, how were they supposed to turn him down? What normal person says 'Na, it's fine. I don't mind that someone broke in and that they slammed around in my home'? That would just scream that they were up to something! But they had no choice. They didn't trust Ripley and they needed to decide what they were doing next.

"No, thanks. I'm sure it was nothing." Sam said. "We'll be more careful when locking the door."

He frowned at them and that told them exactly what they had been expecting. He was now suspicious of them. But then again, when was he not?

"Bye." Dekka said, taking over by grabbing the door and slamming it hard. Ripley barely had time to step out of the way before it hit him.

"He's an ass!" Emily said loudly, no doubt Ripley could still hear her.

Sam smiled and leaned against the door. Astrid put a finger to her lips and everyone was silent as they waited. Finally Sam nodded as he heard the footsteps, and after a quick check out the window they were sure Ripley had officially left the building and was walking away down the street, glancing back over his shoulder. Sam and Astrid had learned their lesson about making sure he was gone before they were allowed to talk freely again.

"Is he gone?" Diana called from behind the closed door of her bedroom.

Sam walked over and opened the door slowly. "Yeah." He peered in, interested to see what she had done with Caine.

"Good." Diana sighed. She stood and walked over, pushing the door closed slightly so Caine could squeeze passed. He was rubbing his nose where Ripley had hit him when he had thrown open the door. It was only luck Ripley assumed his face was wall and didn't check when it slammed into something.

"You okay?" Sam asked.

"Oh great!" Caine snarled, staggering out of the room so he could glare at Sam and Astrid at the same time. "Who the hell was that?"

"His name is Ripley." Diana explained, following him outside. "He's just some troubling douche bag officer; he basically stalks us for an excuse to get us into trouble. He hates all children from the FAYZ, no idea why, but he hates the mutants the most. Again, no idea why."

Dekka scowled. For some reason the fact that he hated her for being a mutant rather than because she was black just seemed to piss her off even more.

"Forget him." Edilio said, standing up and turning back to the Lizzie Lizard. "We have to deal with this."

"And Sinder." Sam reminded him, turning to Astrid. "What exactly happened to her?"

Astrid sighed, trying to push Ripley from her mind and focus on what was important. It took a while to explain what Anna had told her about Sinder, she didn't even know all the details herself. But the only reason it took so long was because everyone kept arguing with her about what she was telling them, even Sam!

"Bugs? There are bugs now too?" Sam yelped.

"I don't know, this is just what Anna said Sinder told her before she passed out." Astrid moaned. "Maybe Sinder was hallucinating."

"Okay, but you said Anna said that they found plants growing inside of her?" Dekka asked slowly.

"Couldn't Sinder, herself, make plants grow?" Edilio asked slowly.

"What are you saying, Edilio?" Astrid whispered.

Edilio looked at her. His eyes said it all and he kept his lips firmly together like he didn't want to finish that sentence. Kevin turned his back and began to pack the lizard back away in the box like this conversation had nothing to do with him.

"Sinder is still alive." Astrid said slowly like how she used to speak when explaining simple commands to Little Pete. "There can't be a mutant animal, or bug, that has her power if she didn't die in the FAYZ." Astrid said slowly.

"But what other person do we know of that can make plants grow." Edilio sighed.

"Sinder helps plants grow." Astrid corrected. "She doesn't make them grow. And certainly not in people's bodies so they poisoned the person."

"And Bette could only make small balls of light to hover in her hand. The cat could burn people and make the balls bigger." Sam joined in. "I think Edilio's right. I think this is Sinder's power."

"But that means we were wrong then! And if there's one alive mutant back then does that mean we've all come back?" Astrid frowned and fear was creeping back. "And if their powers have all grown does that mean they're all dangerous now?" She turned and stumbled over to sit down. "This is crazy. How can we kill mutants if they haven't died yet? We agreed the only way to kill them was by the way they died?"

No one had an answer.

Roger and Quinn had slowly left, going back to their work. Now they added a list of all the mutants, not just the dead ones. The list seemed so much longer now. It was ridiculously long! And they had so many more question marks where they had no idea what animal they were going to come back as, or how to kill them.

"It's dark, maybe we should wait until morning." Emily mumbled, yawning and setting her bag down on the floor beside the sofa. She gently began to rub her shoulder where the straps had been digging in.

"But what if it's gone by tomorrow?" Dekka argued. "We should check it out now."

"I'm with Dekka." Sam mumbled.

"Sam, why don't you, Dekka and Edilio head down and see if it's still there." Astrid suggested, thinking fast. "I'll start setting places for everyone to sleep. Emily can help me since she's pretty tired. Kevin, why don't you see if you can find any other ways to kill the lizard? Okay?" Astrid said. "Just... Be careful with it."

Kevin scowled at her. "I'll be fine!"

"Sounds like a plan." Sam nodded, ignoring Kevin. "Where'd she get attacked then?"

**G*O*N*E**

Sam, Dekka and Edilio were standing outside of the house where the attack had happened. It hadn't taken them long to find the place. It was the only house that was for sale along this street that was near Anna and Emma's home. They all stood side by side, staring up at what seemed like the perfect little family home. It wouldn't take long before it was sold, and if there really was a mutated bug here that could poison you with a bite, they needed to get rid of it soon. But it was getting a lot darker and soon they wouldn't be able to see anything at all, especially not a little butterfly. Sam carried a home made butterfly net (one Astrid had quickly fashioned together from things in their apartment), Edilio a small plastic box they had poked holes in that Astrid used to store biscuits so they didn't grow stale and Dekka held the torch.

They glanced at one another but eventually both set of eyes landed on Sam. It was just like old times. They all looked to Sam for the plan and to save the day. He wasn't sure if he missed it or not but he was accepting it. Sam stepped forward and frowned. They had not said where it had come from; just that she had been attacked outside of this house somewhere. For all they knew it could be long gone, or maybe it had come from a different house, but this was the only starting point they had.

"I suppose we start with the flowers." Sam mumbled. "Stick together, and be ready at a moments notice."

Dekka crouched with Sam and Edilio hovering over her. She shone the light on the flowers and began to shuffle them occasionally, ready to throw back if anything came out. But as she searched each flower was as empty as plain as the first. There were no bugs hiding in the petals or on the leaves or near the stems or even in the dirt. They circled the whole garden but each and every one of the flowers was butterfly free.

"Okay..." Sam sighed, watching Dekka stretch her back and dust her knees. "Let's try the trees."

They walked over towards the nearest tree and directed the torch upwards. They could hardly see anything, branches were in the way and cast shadow on the branches and leaves above them. Emily had been right. It was way too dark for them to do anything now. Even if they did somehow find this butterfly in the dark, it would be even harder to catch it in the dark as it flew around their heads. That was, if it was even here. And then there was the added question of if it even was a butterfly. Sinder had been poisoned by something, maybe she was hallucinating or she did see a butterfly but that had nothing to do with what attacked her.

This was all pointless. Sam sighed and started to turn away, already his mind was on other things. They should be back, helping Kevin kill the Lizzie Lizard. Instead they were chasing butterflies. This whole thing was ridiculous! It was a waste of time for nothing and Sam was almost disappointed with himself for coming on this wild goose chase.

"Found it." Dekka said.

Sam did a double take. "What?"

"It's up there." Dekka said, shining the light on a tall branch.

"Uh..." Edilio stepped forward and moved the light to a branch just bellow the one she was pointing to. "What about that one?"

Sam felt like smacking his face against the tree. There were two... And they had no idea which was which.

"Let's step away." He mumbled. When they both glanced at him, he could feel himself blushing for what he was about to say. "I don't want it listening in."

So they trudged back over towards the second tree and leaned against it in a circle to talk. Dekka pointed the light up so they could see everyone's faces though they looked like they were about to tell a camp horror story. Sam and Edilio set the net and box down on the ground and looked at one another.

"How do we know which one is which?" Edilio asked.

"Guess we catch them both." Sam shrugged. "We'll find out sooner or later."

"Okay, so how are we going to catch them so far up in the dark?" Edilio quizzed.

Sam paused. This was getting more and more complicated. They could very easily fly away the minute they sensed trouble. And if they did they might never find them again.

"I guess the only thing we can do is climb the tree and hope for the best. But if we catch one, the other will fly away and that might be the one that-" Sam began to explain. He hoped listing the problems would make it easier.

"Sam! Look out!" Dekka shrieked and shone the light at the creature just over his shoulder.

Sam, Dekka and Edilio all threw themselves backwards away from the tree without a second thought and away from the butterfly. This was no normal butterfly. The creepiest part was that it probably was normal to begin with but they were watching it mutate in front of their very eyes.

Its wings grew bigger than Sam's fists, it seemed to grow little black fangs and its hands twitched greedily as it hovered in front of the tree, watching them with ridiculously big eyes. The pattern on its soft white silk wings was weird too; a mixture of black swirls and green flower patterns covered them. The butterfly watched them closely, they stood, Sam looking down to where they had left their net and box on the floor at the butterflies feet. All they had was the torch which was shining on the butterfly.

"Think it's safe to say that's our bug." Edilio said slowly.

"Really?" Sam asked sarcastically.

Suddenly the butterfly turned and returned back to the tree. It disappeared into the branches and they stood in silence waiting for it to come back again.

"Oh God, not another Zeke!" Dekka suddenly snapped.

"What?" Edilio blinked.

"It's like a Zeke. Just look at it. It's territorial, only this time it's territorial over a tree. It won't attack us unless we touch it's tree." Dekka growled.

"Let's test that." Sam mumbled.

Sam took one step forward. Nothing. Another step. Nothing. Another step. He was up so close to the tree so that he could reach out and touch it. Still nothing happened and Sam started to doubt it was like the Zekes at all. Suddenly the butterfly was swooping down and he had to turn and throw himself away from the tree. As soon as he was away the butterfly turned and returned to the tree once more.

Sam sat up, spitting grass from where he had fallen face first. "Yup. Definitely territorial."

"Okay... Do you think you can run and grab the net and the box before it attacks and bites you?" Edilio asked. "Maybe we can distract it or something like with the Zekes."

"Sounds like a plan." Sam shrugged. "I'll go for the stuff, you guys distract it and I'll catch it when it isn't looking."

Dekka and Edilio nodded and slowly began to walk to the tree. They moved around and watched, shining the light up at the tree and watching out for the butterfly. Sam watched and waited until he saw the butterfly fly towards them before he ran, ducked and grabbed the things in a pile in his arms, jumping up and out of the way so fast he hit the wall, rolling and landing on the ground hard. He scrambled, dragging the things out of the way and from the tree.

He glanced over and saw Edilio and Dekka were on the floor much like Sam had been and were crawling away as the butterfly returned back to the branches once more.

"Got it!" Sam gasped.

"Now let's catch this bloody thing!" Dekka snarled.

Sam passed the box to Edilio and he opened it, ready to catch the creature and lock it inside. Dekka picked up the torch she dropped and shinned it back up at the tree. For a moment they couldn't find it but then there it was, on the end of the branch, staring down at them.

"I'll catch it first." Sam explained. "Hold it in the net and then we'll get it in the box. Dekka, stay where you are and shine the light on the thing so I can see it."

"Got it." Dekka nodded.

"Let's get this thing so we can head home already." Sam grunted.

Sam ran forward once more, he reached out and touched the tree firmly with his palm. Immediately the butterfly flew down and Sam turned, waving the net around and trying to catch it. At first he just seemed to be waving it around like an idiot, the butterfly was faster and smarter than he thought and dodged the net in quick flashes. Sam panicked and waved the net harder and faster.

At one point the butterfly disappeared and Sam felt fear tighten around his lungs. He swore he would turn and find it biting either him or one of the others but then he stopped and saw it was caught in the net, it's too large wings were its downfall. They were sticking to the home made net (actually an old net like poncho Astrid's mother had sent her for christmas that she had never liked) and it couldn't break free. Sam grabbed the net and squeezed the top, running back to Edilio. It was awkward but soon they turned the net upright, the butterfly fell free into the box and they were sealing the lid and stepping back, the butterfly (bigger than they thought) had little room to move and shot in tiny movements back and forth.

"You could be a professional butterfly catcher." Edilio grinned.

**G*O*N*E**

"Okay, so Caine will sleep with Diana in her room, I'm with Sam, Quinn can sleep on Sam's old camp bed in our room, Edilio and Roger can have the blow up mattress, Kevin can have the sofa, and you and Dekka will need to share our spare mattress and quilts all in here." Astrid explained, lying the last mattress on the floor in the main room. It was quite big if you counted the kitchen in with it. But still they would have little room to wander around in the night, but at least they could push everything against the wall or in the bedroom the next morning. "Is that okay with you?"

Not really. Emily hated sharing beds and she didn't even know this Dekka person but Astrid had her reasons for putting the two girls together rather than the boy with the girl, even if one of the girls was a lesbian. So she didn't argue with her.

"That's fine." Emily yawned.

"Why don't you get some sleep now?" Astrid suggested with a smile. "I'll make sure everyone keeps it down."

"Think I'll join her." Quinn said standing and stretching. "Do you think Sam will mind if I borrow something to sleep in? I didn't actually bring anything and I can't be assed to go home and pick something up. I'll get it all tomorrow."

"He'll be fine. Do you need anything, Emily?" Astrid asked.

"I'm good." Emily yawned again. "I packed." She pulled out a set of panda pyjamas that made Kevin stare. "What?!"

"... You just seem... More..." Kevin fell silent and shrugged.

"Kevin, will you need anything to sleep?" Astrid asked. "Edilio? Roger?"

"We're okay." Edilio smiled. In truth the both of them slept in their boxers but they weren't going to say that out loud.

"I can sleep in my clothes." Kevin shrugged. "They're comfortable."

"Sure?"

"Yeah."

"Okay then. I think everyone is settled..." Astrid mumbled.

"Should we give it a rest now?" Edilio asked.

"I suppose." Astrid nodded. It was early. Her, Sam, Diana and Caine would probably stay up much later but everyone else seemed ready to sleep. "I'll take the lizard and lock it up in the kitchen cabinet."

"Does it need to eat?" Kevin asked suddenly.

"Who cares? Maybe we can starve it to death." Quinn snorted.

Through out the day Kevin had tried more natural ways at killing Lizzie Lizard, just to be sure none of them worked. He had crushed it, cut its head, burned it, poisoned it and even frozen it in the fridge while it stayed tied up. But none of it worked. When he crushed it with the box it was flattened but as soon as he had lifted the box up it returned to normal like an inflatable bouncy house. In the end he had to quickly fix the bands around it to keep it from escaping. When he cut it's head it was like cutting rubber with a pen. Once again it fattened out the minute he let off. Burning and freezing and poison also had no effect and soon Kevin was giving up.

"Notice Caine hasn't come on lately." Emily mumbled as she headed for the bathroom to change.

"Did he do something particular to make you hate him so much?" Astrid asked, making sure all the quilts and pillows were on straight.

"He threatened me and my brother. That is enough." Emily growled, slamming the bathroom door.

Astrid sighed, she knew exactly how Emily felt. Drake had threatened her and her brother Pete. She looked over where Edilio and Roger were sitting down on the mattress, talking quietly to one another about something she couldn't hear. It was nice when a couple made it through so many years. She knew for a fact that Lana and Sanjit hadn't lasted and so had a lot of couples. In fact, Edilio and Roger and Sam and Astrid were the only ones to make it through unless you counted Caine and Diana but since he had been dead for the passed two years, Astrid didn't count him.

Quinn was going through Sam's things and dragging out a loose pair of trousers and a top while Kevin sat down on the sofa.

"This is the weirdest sleepover ever." Astrid suddenly grinned.

When Emily came out, Kevin raised an eyebrow and she scowled at him. She looked almost cute in her pyjamas with her hair in pigs tails but she just wouldn't smile. Suddenly Astrid found herself wondering about match making. Kevin and Emily... They'd be cute... They were as stubborn and scowled at one another as much as they did anyone else.

"Bed time!" Astrid called to Diana and Caine. "Keep it down from now on!"

"BOSSY COW!"

"Shut up, Caine!"

"This is what it sounds like when you go to bed?" Roger laughed.

"Not normally." Astrid grinned.

Caine and Diana were both growing restless. They had been in the same room for the last few hours now and they were quickly growing frustrated and restless. They had flipped through all Diana's books, skimmed all magazines and Caine had spent several minutes poking through Diana's draws (including her underwear draw) before she noticed and told him off, poking his side until he stopped.

"We have nothing left to do." Diana sighed. "So why don't we talk a little more. Tell me more about your dreams."

"I told you everything I know." Caine sighed. He was getting sick and bored of this.

"You're being vague." Diana scowled.

"There's no point boring you with pointless detail that means nothing anyway." Caine argued.

"So sleep!" Diana said suddenly.

"What?" Caine frowned.

"Sleep. Dream some more and tell me about it when you wake." Diana nodded, trying to lie him down.

Caine frowned and then raised a suggestive eyebrow. "There's other stuff we could be doing."

"You're injured." Diana smirked.

"There's stuff you could do while I just lay here." Caine said.

Diana raised an eyebrow before reaching over and pushing on his rib, making him shout in pain and shock once again. This was becoming a good way to train him, Diana thought. He glared at her but she just smirked and shrugged before rolling off the bed.

"I'm changing."

"Oh," Caine said. "So now you're going to show off in front of me, and then just make me go to bed?"

"That's the idea."

* * *

**32) So if the butterfly is Sinder... How do you think they can kill it?**

**Sorry for slow updates. Sadly these will be happening now because I am back at college and I have work. I will still try and update at least once a week!**


	16. Chapter 16

"Shh!" Astrid hissed as soon as she heard the door open.

Sam blinked and squinted in the dark of the room to make out Astrid climbing over bodies as she hurried over towards them, telling them to be quiet. She climbed over the mattresses on the ground and hurried to help them in and stand so they were not disturbing anyone else sleeping in the room. Emily was on a blow up mattress, completely asleep and only half her body actually on the mattress under the quilt, lying face down with the other half on the tiled floor of the kitchen, her wrist pressed against the kitchen cabinets. She was dressed in strange panda pyjamas; a large head on the top and little panda's covering the bottom, they were blue apart from the black and white pandas. While Kevin was on the sofa, curled up comfortable and completely under the quilt so happily that he must have only just fallen asleep, though he snored quite loudly, filling most of the room. And then Roger, who was lying on the spare mattress, blinking like he had just woken up from a gentle sleep, dressed only in his top and boxers. He slowly sat up and looked over when the door opened.

"Everyone asleep already?" Sam whispered, feeling strangely happy.

"It's been a long day for them." Astrid shrugged. "Come on. We can talk in Diana's room. I think she's still awake."

"Here." Edilio whispered, handing the butterfly to her. "If you don't mind I'm gonna join the others and get some sleep in."

"That's fine. You're sharing with Roger." Astrid explained.

She took the butterfly from him and locked it in the same cabinet as the Lizzie Lizard. Sinder Butterfly was moving but it was hard to see because of the darkness so Astrid didn't get a good look before she was locking it away and joining Dekka and Sam as they tiptoed over to Diana's room. Edilio stripped off down to his boxers and climbed in beside of Roger, moving close to feel his body before the two of them drifted back to sleep together.

After knocking gently on the door they stepped inside to find Caine yawning and rubbing his eyes like he had just been asleep, or was fighting off sleep. Diana was on her feet, arms crossed, scowling at him like they had been arguing, dressed for bed but refusing to get into the bed. No time for that now, though.

"So what happened?" Astrid asked, sitting on the edge of Diana's bed in front of Caine's feet, Diana sitting beside of her.

Sam explained about the butterfly. He told them how it had mutated in front of their eyes and even explained how they had caught it. It felt important to point out to Astrid that this creature was acting territorial like the Zekes over this tree it had settled in. She didn't say anything but her lips kept pursing and unpursing so she clearly wanted to say something. In the end she waited for Sam to finish his story.

When he was done he puffed and huffed to get his breath back, waiting for her to give him the answers. The problem was that Sam was now used to the fact that sometimes Astrid just didn't have any answers for him. And this was very much the same. He could see the clock was ticking in her head but she didn't give them any answers.

Then she just gave up and sighed, shrugging her shoulders and glaring down at her body like she was to blame for not knowing.

"I don't know," Astrid growled. Sam smiled, remembering how much she hated saying that.

"What do you mean you don't know?" Caine scowled.

"I mean I don't know!" Astrid snapped, turning to glare at him. "If you have any answers, Caine, then feel free to step forward!"

Caine scowled at her as she turned away from him. Everyone else looked back at Astrid apart from Diana. Diana watched Caine and frowned at him as he leaned back and sulked. Did he know something? Had he received any answers in his dreams? But she would have to wait; she couldn't blurt it out in front of everyone else. If she did then Caine would clam up and refuse to tell them anything.

"Look we better just get some rest." Sam sighed. "We're all a little frustrated and tired from so much work. Plus, we'll have a better chance of thinking answers with a clear head."

"I suppose so..." Astrid grumbled but she didn't seem happy about it. She turned to Dekka. "I hope you don't mind, we don't have much room so you'll have to share a bed with Emily."

Dekka didn't mind but she would have rather not. She liked having a bed to herself so she didn't have to worry about kicking when she had nightmares (or anything even more embarrassing when she had nicer dreams of Brianna) but it looked like Emily wasn't going to be on the mattress much longer anyway. It was rude anyway to argue so she just nodded her head. After changing in the kitchen she lay down in her dark purple plain night gown beside of the moaning girl and was asleep within seconds of shutting her eyes.

Astrid and Sam went into their own room, being careful to avoid Quinn who was stretched out on the camp bed with limbs hanging down beside of him at the end of their bed. They climbed into their beds, barely stripping much clothing before curling up beside one another. Slowly in the night they did somehow strip off until they were left in their underwear, both too lazy to change properly into their night clothes. Astrid moved up and rested her head on Sam's chest. She loved falling asleep like this, able to hear his heart beat, listen to his life. And he loved feeling her in his arms, feeling her safe and with him. It made the nightmares easier when he woke up.

Meanwhile Diana walked over and made sure the door was tightly shut before she went back to Caine's side and crawled up onto the mattress, moving to his side and placing a hand on his head.

"Tell me the truth now, okay." Diana whispered.

Caine sighed and rolled his eyes.

"Seriously. What did you dream about?" Diana whispered.

Shrugging and wincing, Caine pulled himself up and looked at her. "It wasn't really much this time. It was of me, falling after Pete looked at me in the eyes and I saw a load of images all around me and I felt my body burning and then I blacked out and woke up back here on the bed again."

"What sort of images did you see?" Diana pressed.

"I dunno..." Caine mumbled and thought hard about it. "Okay. I saw... I saw a Parrott that kept shouting something. And I saw leopard that lifted off into the air. I saw a bird that was screaming and I saw a badger that seemed to be smashing invisible objects around it with its paws. And then I saw this... Something, I don't know what it was. It had a cat lion like mask and was touching me and my arm burned and... And loads of other stuff too. None of it made any sense."

"Maybe those are the animals we're looking for." Diana whispered. "What else did you see?"

"I don't know it all blended in with each other. They were the ones I remembered. A parrot, a leopard, a bird, a badger and a weird Egyptian like thing." Caine mumbled.

"An Egyptian thing?" Diana blinked. That wasn't an animal... But then the butterfly wasn't exactly an animal either.

"Yeah. I remember it vaguely from cartoons and stuff but I can't remember what it was called." Caine shrugged.

"Hmm... I think Astrid had a book around here somewhere about that stuff..." Diana mumbled.

"Of course she does." Caine said, rolling his eyes.

Diana left the bedroom and spent a few minutes stumbling in the dark. She was trying not to wake everyone else up but Astrid and the others had pushed their small home made book shelf to the side and she had to pull it away from the wall in order to reach around and began to shuffle through the books. And even then she had to pull out her phone to use as a light so she could see their covers before finally pulling out a thick white hard backed cover book about Egyptian life. She carried it back to the bedroom, nearly tripping over Edilio in the process. The book was at least as big as her torso and she threw it down onto the bed with a huff before quickly shutting the door again.

"What am I meant to do with this?" Caine snorted.

"Look through it, flick the pages and find the one with the thing you saw." Diana shrugged. "Just see if anything jumps out. Maybe you do, maybe you don't. No harm in trying."

Caine hesitated but then slowly opened the first page and began to flick through. Diana sat down beside of him and watched the pages closely though nothing really seemed very interesting, to her at least. There were a lot of strange symbols and beliefs and rituals in the book. There were at least three whole pages full on that focussed about the funerals and death they followed, making mummies and locking them in tombs underground. It looked interesting but Diana got bored after reading a few lines when Caine happened to pause on a page long enough for her to read. He looked at each of the pictures but none of them seemed to stand out to him. They didn't look like the creature he saw in his dream.

And then he saw it. It was near the end of the book but it looked exactly like it did in his dream when he was falling passed it before it burned his arm.

"This is it." Caine said, turning the book to her.

Diana frowned down at the page. She slowly began to read the page out loud as if for both of their benefits.

"_Sekhmet is one of the oldest known deities. Her name is derived from the Egyptian word 'sekhem' which means 'power' or 'might' and is often translated as the 'Powerful One'_." Diana said, already finding herself to be growing bored. "_She is depicted as a lion-headed woman, sometimes with the addition of a sun disc on her head. Her seated statues show her holding the ankh of life, but when she is shown striding or standing she usually holds a sceptre formed from a papyus, the symbol of northern or Lower Egypt, suggesting that she was associated primarily with the north. However, some scholars argue that the deity was introduced from Sudan, south of Egypt, where lions are more plentiful_."

"That's what I saw?" Caine snorted.

"It's too much information to get at once." Diana grumbled and began to skim over the page quickly, only picking up little bites of detail. "... _A temple was constructed by_ yadda yadda ya... _It_ _was hoped the Sekhmet would protected the border,_ blah blah blah... _Sekhmet's_ _main cult and centre was in Memphis where she was worshipped as 'the destroyer' along side others,_ yabba yabba yab..."

"God this is pointless." Caine moved and lay down, careful of his side and shutting his eyes, prepared to sleep some more.

Diana, however, was still interested and ignored him to continue to read aloud. "_Sekhmet was represented by the searing heat of the mid-day sun_... _terrifying goddess_... _friends could avert plague and cure disease_..." She stopped and frowned down at the page. "Hey, listen to this. _She was the patron of Physicians, and Healers_... She was basically a healer... _and her priests became known as skilled doctors_..."

"A healer..." Caine mumbled, frowning without opening his eyes.

"Yeah. Maybe you dreamt of her because of your injuries." Diana said, shutting the book and dropping it on the floor as she climbed in beside of him. "You know, you wished you had a healer."

"Hmm, maybe." Caine mumbled but he didn't believe that for a second. He had a whole different theory in his mind but he could share that with Diana tomorrow...

**G*O*N*E**

Breakfast seemed so crowded with everyone sitting on the mattresses on the floor because there was no room anywhere else for them. Emily sat crossed leg, eating a bowl of golden balls cereal with Kevin eating the same on the sofa, slouched down and still half asleep. Dekka sat on the other side of the sofa, eating buttered toast the same as Edilio and Roger where they were sitting on their bed. Sam and Astrid sat on the end of Edilio and Roger's bed, nibbling on bacon while Caine and Diana were still in their room but with the door opened wide, eating breakfast biscuits since neither was up for a real meal.

They had all woken up at their own time, Caine first because of pain and also because of the dreams he continued to have. Eventually he rolled over and struggled enough for Diana to wake up beside of him. Then Emily had woken and had stumbled loudly into the bathroom, waking Edilio and Roger up just to tell her to keep it down. Astrid had woken crying from a nightmare that woke Quinn and Sam and eventually Sam had woken Dekka as the day wore on and she continued to snooze on her own time. No one wanted to disturb anyone else while they were sleeping, and if they were honest they weren't even sure what they were going to be doing on that day. But that didn't stop those being bored as they waited for the rest of them to wake up.

"So what are we doing now?" Dekka asked, after finishing her breakfast.

"I guess the only thing we can do is try and work out how to kill these things again." Astrid sighed, heading for the kitchen where they were stored. She came back carrying the two boxes they were in and setting them down on the ground in front of everyone.

"But it makes no sense!" Kevin snapped. "How do we kill something that hasn't yet died?"

Astrid huffed and sat down. She really did hate not knowing things. Especially things about life and death.

"Maybe it isn't how they died?" Emily shrugged.

"But that was how the Bette Cat died!" Astrid argued angrily.

Emily shrugged. They fell silent once more. The silence was stretching longer and Dekka finally stood and walked over to the boxes just for something to do. She put them side by side and looked in on the butterfly, still dashing back and forth in its confined space. The butterfly stopped and stared at Dekka. It glared at her like they were in a staring contest, once again reminding her of the Zekes.

"There has to be a way to kill them." Dekka grumbled. "Have you tried killing it in the same way as the Bette Cat?"

"Hitting it around the head?" Edilio asked. "Yeah."

"Crushing it?"

"Yes." Diana chimed in.

"Cutting it up?"

"Yes." Edilio nodded.

"Burning it?"

"Yes." Edilio said then hesitated.

"Well sort of." Roger shrugged.

"What do you mean, sort of?" Diana frowned from the bedroom.

"Well we tried to burn the lizard's leg off, but nothing happened and we didn't want to get too close to it with fire in case it could control it." Roger explained. "I mean we tried it but we just didn't try it very hard."

"So why don't we try that again." Dekka said, carrying the butterfly into the kitchen, setting it down by the cooker and starting a fire on the top.

"Wait, you best do it with the lizard." Astrid said, gathering the box and walking over.

"Yeah, we have the lizard tied up and can hold it by its tail, but the butterfly can shoot all over the place and bite us." Sam nodded.

"Okay."

Dekka took the lizard and set it to the other side, making the flames as large and hot as they could go. They only had to wait a few minutes before it was ready. She planned to just hold the Lizzie Lizard by its tail over the flame until it burned its head. It might come across as cruel but it had to be done. Anyway, Dekka had never been over loving towards animals before, and if she was then the FAYZ certainly would have changed that when they had to eat pretty much everything in order to survive including house pets.

After a moment Dekka turned to the box and opened it, pulling out the lizard. It thrashed in her hands but it couldn't get free and soon Dekka was holding it over the flames of the oven. The lizard continued to twist and turn but even after she had put it directly in the flames and held it there for a few minutes, it didn't burn, nor did it die. She was careful not to burn the bands around it but it meant they didn't have much to burn. Everyone watched, Astrid had gathered water and was ready to help if it turned out the lizard could control fire but if it could then it couldn't do it tied up. When the Lizzie Lizard didn't die, nor burn at all where Dekka held it directly in the flames, disappointment was clear on everyone's face.

Dekka sighed and returned the Lizzie Lizard into the large box. She closed the lid tightly and pushed the box to the side on the counter. She was frustrated and wished she could throw the box around but she was worried about letting the lizard free. Dekka turned, Astrid was already settling back down beside of Sam again. She could see by the looks on all their faces that they were giving up; even before they had started everyone was giving up. Even if they could find these animals, they couldn't store them all in their apartment! They needed a way to kill them.

It was then that Dekka's eyes drifted down and she saw the butterfly. Sinder Butterfly was still trapped in the box, only it was no longer flying around in a craze and it wasn't even glaring at Dekka anymore. It was perfectly still on the end furthers from the over, pressed against the side of the box with its black eyes fixed on the oven. It wasn't moving, it looked frozen like someone had made a carving out of stone and replaced it with the real creature, and its eyes did not leave the oven, even when Dekka poked the boxed and made it move.

"What is it, Dekka?" Quinn asked.

"Something's wrong with the butterfly." Dekka mumbled.

"What is it?" Astrid frowned, standing and walking back over, followed by Sam and Edilio.

As they gathered around the creature, the butterfly still did not move or look away from the oven in front of it. It was completely frozen. It was unmoving. It was shocked.

"What's wrong with it?" Edilio mumbled.

"It's just sitting there. Staring at the oven." Astrid mumbled.

Experimentally, Astrid nudged the box slightly closer to the over. The butterfly gave a spasm and began to turn; pressing against the box wall like it might be trying to crush itself in an attempt to get out. It was frantic, pressing against the side of the box and scratching at it with its non existent hands.

"It's..." Astrid shook her head. If she didn't recognise what this thing was doing she might have stayed quiet but she saw it with the Bette cat too. "It's scared."

"It's what?" Sam blinked.

"It's scared. No, terrified." Astrid whispered.

"Terrified of the oven?" Sam snorted.

"No..." Dekka whispered, picking up the box. She moved it over the flames and the butterfly began to fly and press itself against the lid. "It's terrified of the fire."

"Put it down on the flames." Sam said suddenly.

Dekka did as he said. She put the box closer to the flames until the creature was going crazy inside of it. It dashed back and forth, its wings beating hard, hitting every part of the plastic apart from the lower one closest to the flames. It moved constantly, ducking, diving, skidding, flashing, dashing, chasing and generally losing its little mind inside the box. The others slowly gathered around to watch the butterfly fly constantly, including Diana, before it began to stop and twitch in the middle of the box like it was having some kind of attack.

"What's it doing now?" Emily frowned.

"It's... I can't believe I am going to say this." Astrid snorted, rolling her eyes. She took a step back and pressed a hand against her forehead.

"Say what?" Dekka demanded.

The butterfly twisted in mid air before its wings stiffened and curled in on themselves along with its legs and feet. It dropped to the bottom of the box and lay perfectly still, though occasionally it shuddered like it was cold above the flames.

"It's having a heart attack." Astrid said, shaking her head in disbelief. "It's actually dying of fright!"

They were silent and stared at the butterfly in confusion when it began to turn black. It began to burn and crisp while melting and turning into a mixture of ash and an oil puddle. It began to fill the whole of the bottom of the box and continued to melt and burn even after Dekka had taken it away from the fire and turned the fire off. She set it on the side and they continued to watch it melt and burn.

"That is so gross." Kevin said, gagging.

"Just like the cat." Astrid whispered.

"Hey! What's happening?! I can't get out of bed, remember!" Caine snapped.

Sam rolled his eyes and looked up, but Diana had returned to Caine side to fill him in almost as soon as he began to shout and call out for them. Sam went back over and sat down with the melted butterfly now in his lap. Once again they fell silent as none of them knew what to say.

Unable to handle the silence, Quinn grabbed the controls and turned on the television, ignoring pointed looks. "Hey. We might find another animal like the Duck Dog."

"Prarie Dog." Astrid corrected. "It's not the same as a dog."

"Whatever." Quinn laughed and Sam found himself grinning too. He watched along with the others as Quinn flicked through the television screen.

"Wait!" Sam snapped. "Go back." His smile disappeared as a male reporter sat in front of a desk looking extremely grim.

"...found in her home, a hole burned through her throat. The woman has been identified as Abana Daidoo, mother of Dahra Daidoo, one of the many children who died in the anomaly. Mrs Diadoo had been married previously but her husband had gone away to deal with his emotional troubles after their daughters death. He returned yesterday afternoon to find her dead in their new home. The window of the kitchen had been broken and each of the rooms either had things missing, broken or moved. There is no explanation as to what exactly caused her throat to be burned through, which was the cause of death, though guesses have been given. There are also no suspects and no one saw anything because of the late hour. However neighbours did claim they heard screams for help, but assumed they were pranks from nearby children. A police investigation is being taken to find out who killed Mrs Daidoo and so we ask for any information to place contact the police and let them know."

The shot cut to Abana's husband, Dahra's father, talking to the camera and looking devastated. They only watched him for a minute before Diana appeared and slammed the television off by the plugs hard enough to hurt her wrist. She rubbed it angrily and stormed back to the bedroom, slamming the door behind her and shutting them all out.

Astrid looked down and Sam had also fallen silent. No one spoke for a while. Then Emily stood, grabbing her things and going to the bathroom to change. Edilio and Roger pulled their clothes on quickly under the covers and Kevin began to chew at his finger nails absentmindedly. Finally Sam stood and walked over to the kitchen, throwing the melted butterfly and the box straight into the bin in silence.

"We should talk about the butterfly." Astrid said quietly.

"We should." Sam agreed but said nothing more about it.

The phone began to ring and neither Sam nor Astrid made any move towards it. In the end Edilio stood and grabbed the phone for them.

"Hello?" Edilio said cautiously, unsure of whose home to call it since there were three different names he could give.

"Sam! Is that you?!" An older voice shouted down the phone.

"Uh, no, who is this?" Edilio said slowly.

"You know what? Never mind." The voice snapped. "I have other people willing to come in when I ask, or at least let me know with a heads up when they can't. Plenty of other people. So tell Sam he's fired!"

They hung up. Edilio was left holding the phone, staring at it and sighing before he hung up. When he checked the time he saw it was already getting close to the afternoon. It seemed the bad news just kept on coming. Now he had to tell Sam that it seemed he was just fired from his job.

As he turned around, Sam still hadn't looked up. Now he stood over the bin staring down at the box and the liquid butterfly inside the box. Astrid had walked up beside of him and put his arm around his shoulders while the rest of them stayed where they were, sharing awkward glances with one another. They had no idea what to do. They had seen a lot of death in the FAYZ but maybe that was it. They had seen death, it was over now, they were supposed to be free but instead it was coming back. What they didn't understand was that part of what was haunting Sam, Astrid, Diana and even Caine, was that Abana had been just like her daughter.

Dahra had wanted to help people. She had helped people. And it was that helping people that had then lead to her death. If she hadn't helped them, then she would not be dead today. They were to blame. And all because she helped Caine and she refused to run away when the rest of them were in danger of the Bette Cat.

"Look, I'm sorry about Abana you guys." Dekka said suddenly, standing. "But unless we do something more people are going to get hurt. I know you guys are upset but we need to put that aside and work out what killed that butterfly and how the kill the rest of these animals so we can save others."

Sam scowled and turned to look at her. "You're right. Let's get to work!"

Astrid didn't look so eager but nodded her head anyway and they gathered back around the middle of the room once more. Emily joined them and they sat in a circle. All of them but Caine and Diana who were in the room, talking about something much more important...

* * *

**33) What do you think killed the Butterfly then?**

**34) Any idea who the Sekhmet might be now? (I'll give you a hint: Not Jack, Penny, Gaia or Pete)**

**35) What do you think Caine and Diana are talking about now?**

**I finish college in about three weeks, then I can work non stop! Well not non stop since it's been nice weather so far but I will update lots!**


	17. Chapter 17

"It was the badger again. It was doing something. It was destroying something that I couldn't see properly. And it was getting angry and angry but something was weird about it and I can't put my finger on it exactly. Just that maybe it did look familiar and that maybe it was one of the kids of the FAYZ but I certainly couldn't name it." Caine said. He was on his feet, moving slowly around of the room. He wasn't as badly hurt as he had originally thought, and while everything still burned and ached, he was able to move. Moving actually helped in some way. Much like when he first woke up.

"So that's all you dreamt about? The badger?" Diana pressed. She was dressed in a cotton long sleeved blouse and a knee length denim skirt and a pair of blue sandals. As she added some plain earrings and a necklace she turned to face him.

Caine hesitated then moved over and stood in front of her. It was weird now that she was taller than him, and her body was physically two years older, but somehow that didn't seem to register to either of them. Especially not when Caine leaned forward and kissed her on the lips, wrapping his hand around the back of her neck and holding her in place. Diana shut her eyes and kissed back, reaching to touch his chest. Then she pushed him away slowly and smiled slyly.

"I have work."

"You don't even like it." Caine snorted.

"So? I need to do it. Otherwise we don't get money." Diana shrugged. "As it is, if Sam doesn't remember his own job he's going to be fired soon."

Caine stared at her and snorted, shaking his head. That judging look felt like a slap and Diana resisted the urge to say something snarky to him about his death keeping him from doing anything.

"When we were in the FAYZ, you never dreamed of settling down in a lousy job you hated. So why the hell are you doing it now? Huh?" Caine scowled. "People from the FAYZ should know better than anyone else not to waste life doing something they hate just for rent on a poor apartment. You should know better than anyone to live life to the full, including finding your dream job."

Diana scowled and went to walk passed him but he grabbed her and kissed her again, forcefully enough to hurt her arms where he was squeezing. Then he let her go and sighed, shaking his head.

"Fine, just hang on and wait for me to get ready." Caine sighed.

"What?" Diana blinked.

"I've been stuck in the house for ages now. I'm coming with you to work." Caine said, changing slowly from his jeans into a pair of shorts and the white vest they had wrapped the lizard in.

"No you are not!" Diana snorted.

"Yes I am."

"Good luck with that." Diana sneered, heading for the door. "You won't get very far this time."

"If you don't let me come, I'll stick my head out the window and scream until someone looks up and sees me. Maybe Ripley will be wandering passed..." Caine smiled at her.

Diana openly glared at him. He continued to smile and shrugged his shoulders. Diana took a breath and calmed herself down, but she knew Caine too well and knew if she did leave him here much longer then he would start screaming and bringing attention just to get some fresh air out in the open.

"You said it yourself. You work at that place because hardly anyone goes there and those that do don't know the FAYZ well enough to identify you. Or me for that matter." Caine shrugged. "I could stay in the corner, have a drink, and give you some company."

"My boss won't go for that." Diana said, but she doubted it.

"Sure he will." Caine shrugged. "Just get me some sunglasses, maybe a hat and some shoes and we can go. When do you have to be in?"

"Soon." Diana grumbled. "I have the afternoon shift today."

"Okay then. Let's get the stuff and go."

Diana sighed but knew better than to argue. And part of her would like Caine to be there for some company. Normally Landy didn't even hang around for very long meaning they could have some time alone together in the cafe.

She went into the main room and ignored the others who were all sat around, writing down more on Astrid's laptop about what they knew. Diana went straight into Sam's bedroom and came back out with one of Sam's baseball hats supporting a team she never paid close enough attention to identify, a pair of dark sunglasses and a pair of his old shoes. She went over to the side and grabbed the tissue box before returning to her bedroom and giving it all to Caine, making sure to stuff the shoes so they fit better and he would hopefully not stumble as much.

"What's she doing?" Kevin frowned, watching Diana pass.

Sam shrugged and looked back down at the list Astrid was making in her lap.

"How do I look?" Caine asked, pulling the hat down slightly over his face.

"Like a homeless man." Diana nodded, looking at his too-big shoes, his uncombed hair and the clothes that – while fit – still seemed out of place.

"Perfect! Let's go!"

"Now I get to convince Sam to let you go. What fun." Diana mumbled as Caine walked to the door ahead of her. He still moved stiffly and it might make him stand out but hopefully not too much.

"Where are you going?" Astrid blinked, looking up as Caine headed for the door.

Diana sighed and shrugged. "Caine's coming to work with me."

"Work!" Sam gasped. "I completely forgot about work! Oh man! I'm dead!"

"Uh... Sam..." Edilio said awkwardly. "Uh... That call... I'm sorry man."

Sam slouched down. He buried his face in his hands and moaned loudly. Great. They had just lost a chunk of their income. And that had been his favourite job he had ever had. It was the perfect place, the perfect job, at the beach helping fellow surfers and maybe getting his own surf in every now and then when his shift was over with the sea salt filling the air and a gentle cold wind around him.

Diana watched for a moment before she figured the best thing for them to do was to get out of there while they were too distracted to stop them or yell at them. She opened the door and dragged Caine out, shutting it carefully and leading him down the long stairs to the bottom. He couldn't move fast but the fact that he was moving at all was pretty good considering how badly he had been injured. Slow and steady.

Eventually they made it to the bottom of the stairs and left the building. It was a good thing that the sun was up and the temperature was high. Caine didn't look out of place dressed down with sunglasses and a hat shading his face. Diana hurried beside of him, holding his hand and guiding him the long way she took to avoid people around through the alleys towards Coco Mix. She felt bad for Sam, who was loosing a job, but at the moment all she could think of was keeping Caine from getting caught by anyone.

As they approached Coco Mix, Diana paused long enough to wonder how they were going to handle this. Hopefully Landy would head out like he normally did but he didn't yesterday and so he might not today. Diana hesitated and turned to Caine.

"Wait here for ten minutes, count it in your head, and then come in. I should be serving by then and you can order what you want and sit down." Diana explained.

Caine nodded and watched her head inside.

Diana didn't react when Landy passed a sarcastic comment about her clothing like he always did. She marched straight into the back room and put her things away as she quickly as she could, grabbed the apron and done up her hair so it was out of the way of her face. Then she was back out around the corner and wiping it ready to serve drinks and food. Already she was boiling over and having trouble breathing properly in the stuffy shop.

A few minutes later Caine stepped in, keeping his head low as he walked over and casually ordered lemonade before he went and sat down in the very corner of the shop out of the way, a shadow casting over him where one of the lights no longer worked and hadn't been changed since.

After a few moments of mopping up the already dry and clean counter, Diana watched Caine before she turned to Landy.

"Are you in all day again?" Diana asked, trying to sound casual but snarky like she normally was. It was hard trying to act normal when you were actually trying.

"What's it bloody matter to you?" Landy growled.

"I was just curious." Diana grumbled, glaring at the counter that she continued to wipe.

Landy snorted. Diana began to rearrange the counter though she didn't need to. Normally she didn't even do nearly as much work but her nerves were eating at her and she felt the need to stay busy. They spent the next hour of Diana scrubbing at a clean surface, Caine sipping lemonade and angrily watching and waiting for Landy to leave, but instead Landy was on the counter, feet up, scratching himself like a pig.

Finally, just when Caine was about to need another drink, Landy stood up and headed for the door.

"Are you going?" Diana asked, hurrying around the counter.

Landy paused and frowned at her. "Yes. I'll be back later. Don't leave until I get back."

"Got it." Diana said, turning and scrubbing the counter yet again.

Landy stared at her, snorting before he left the building, slamming the door behind of him. As soon as he was out of sight Diana turned and hurried over to Caine.

"This place is horrible!" Caine snapped. "It's hot! It smells! And your boss made me want to throw up."

"I know but it pays." Diana shrugged.

"Can I get another drink? Maybe some lunch?" Caine said, standing up slowly and grinning. "Why don't we both eat? Make a date out of it?"

Diana smiled and went around the counter. She came back with two sandwiches and two flapjacks though neither looked especially nice, they were still edible. She made them each a drink, two plain flat warm cokes. She would have liked to have a tea or maybe even a hot chocolate but the hot drinks here were absolutely terrible! They were even worse than the fizzy drinks they were about to have.

They sat down facing one another and began to eat. It was weird but nice. They hadn't even actually been a real date before and this was as close as they were going to get. Diana normally had breaks like this, especially since no one ever came shopping, but it was better now that she had some kind of company. Especially when the company was Caine.

"So this place gets no customers then, huh?" Caine smirked.

"No, it gets a few." Diana explained. "How else would it stay open? But nowhere near enough to make a profit. I think Landy does something else in his spare time or he won the lottery or some kind of inheritance that goes along with it."

Caine nodded and ate his flapjack first. He couldn't bring himself to get used to the beautiful tastes of food again. Then he sipped at his drink and smirked at Diana. "So... If I remember correctly you always said you wanted to be a girlfriend. You never really had a career in mind."

Diana sighed. "Caine, don't start. I work here for a reason. I don't like it but I accept it. So why don't you accept it and let it go."

Caine shook his head. "Sorry. I just feel I dragged you down and I don't want to do that anymore."

She laughed loudly and smirked. "Please don't be this guy. It really doesn't suit you."

She stood up and walked around the counter again, flicking through the food for something lighter and healthier to nibble on, but Coco Mix wasn't exactly known for its health.

Just then the stores phone rang.

Caine watched Diana walk around and pick it up. He couldn't hear Landy on the other line but he could hear Diana snapping at him and pulling faces at whatever it was he wanted her to do. Caine couldn't understand how Diana had turned into this girl. No, he could. He saw the transformation slowly through their time together in the FAYZ. She started out as the bad girl, but then slowly became someone consumed by guilt and the need for redemption. And now she was the push over who was too afraid to do anything more than hide away in a lousy job. It was sad.

When she hung up she slammed the phone hard and turned, throwing her cloth down beside of the sink. She turned around stamping her feet on the ground and heading from the room.

"What is it?" Caine called.

"Landy wants me to rearrange the whole of the bloody storeroom. That is going to take all day and it doesn't even need to be done. He just wants me to do it because he loves pissing me off."

"Maybe you should quit?" Caine asked innocently.

"Just... Stay here." Diana growled. "And keep your head down."

She stormed from the room and into the back. Caine was left alone, sipping at coke and picking at an off-putting sandwich while he waited.

**G*O*N*E**

No one knew what could cause plants to poison someone while growing under her skin all along their bones. They had no answers for her, or her family who they eventually called in to find her in this sorry state on the hospital bed. They had deemed that she was not contagious but that didn't mean they had any more ideas about her condition or how to save her. But just because she was in a coma didn't mean she couldn't hear everything that was happening around her. She could hear the doctors talking, she could hear her parents crying, she could hear the nurses gossiping as they cleaned her body or fixed one of the many tubes that were attached to her body or through her nose or mouth. Sinder had never liked hospitals much, like normal people they reminded her too much of how badly damaged you were, but now she felt even worse because she could feel everything too and she could feel the tubes up her nose, down her throat in her arms or attached to her head, or to her finger that was monitoring her heart beat. That was another horrible part. Her own heart beat was constantly in the background in an infuriating repetitive sound that kept her from being able to relax because it just sounded so damn loud right beside of her head and for some reason part of her was just waiting for it to fall into a single long tone to say she had died.

She had been there for a while now and so far even she didn't understand what had happened to her though she was terrified beyond belief. Well she did know sort of what happened. Sinder knew that she had been bitten by a butterfly and that it had turned her arm green and then she had fainted from shock. Only after she had fainted her body had refused to wake up even after she had told it to. And then she had found it hard to breath. By then Sinder had been taken to hospital and she had been hooked up to the heart monitor and something that helped her breath, all the while hearing and feeling everything around her. She had felt the cold, the warm, the itches and the stings. And she had felt then cutting into her arm and finding the plants growing inside of her. She had felt them too. They had been what caused her to feel itchy.

Sinder had not actually been in the hospital for very long. She had been entered and she had stayed over night and been there for most of the morning the next day. It was impossible to tell when she had fallen asleep and when she was awake unless there was someone else in the room talking because even in her sleep she heard the beeping sound of her heart. Only the next day did come and she was feeling just as miserable, unable to move or do anything as they took more samples of the plants from inside of her arm and took even more blood. She was more upset than she was scared. Like so much had happened and she just couldn't bring herself to be afraid of it anymore. Part of her just wished death would come so it would end and she could sleep forever without having to hear the constant natter of her own heart right in her ears. Plus she wouldn't have to worry anymore either. Silence and peace came with death...

They all seemed to just be taking different things from her. They even took a urine sample, hair samples, and any other DNA sample that they could get from her. Her parents hadn't left her side since they had first shown up and were there, even when she was going to the toilet which was embarrassing. Her mother held her hand; her father was standing beside of her mother, unable to sit and kept pacing the whole time he was there. At first when they sat beside of her they told her off, even if they weren't sure she could hear them they took time to tell her off for leaving without telling them.

Then they had seemed to grow tired of shouting at her and lately they had been talking to her more miserably and calmly, begging her to wake up so they could forgive her properly.

And then she woke up.

It was quite confusing when it happened. She woke up but something else happened to her at the same time as she woke up. The only way she could describe it was that her mind broke. She woke up, her breathing picked up, the itching left her body and she felt good but then her mind began to break. She felt cold and sick all at once; she shivered and didn't react when her parents began to call for her as soon as they saw she had woken up and opened her eyes. They tried to talk to her, and the doctors came running in and tried to talk to her and asked her questions but she couldn't respond to them. She couldn't do anything. Her mind was broken. She knew what was happening around her, she knew what they were saying and asking her but she didn't register it in her mind because all she could think about was that something in her mind had broken. Something had snapped inside of her when she woke. Someone had broken her.

Someone had broken something inside of her.

Someone had broken a part of her.

**G*O*N*E**

It could feel him now. It could smell him. It was meters away from seeing him. It wanted to see him soon or It would go out of Its mind searching because now It was just so close. It was sure that what It was searching for was a human being now. A male human being. It knew that much at the very least. It was a human and it was basically waiting for It to find him. It moved straight down the street in daytime. Normally It slept during the day but It was so close It couldn't sleep now. It was going to find him today before the sun went down and It lost him again and was forced to start searching all over again.

It saw the building where he was waiting in, no longer moving, just waiting there, waiting for It to find him. Maybe he really was waiting for It. Maybe that was what It was searching for. They were searching for each other for some greater purpose. The building was small but the door was easily pushed open and soon It was stepping into the hot area of the room, immediately noticing the stuffy smell of the inside but not caring because he was there. It was a horrible place but he was in there still waiting for It.

Caine sighed and put his feet up on the table, slowly so as not to upset his sides. He leaned back and wished he could get through to Diana and make her see sense about what a terrible place this is. She had stuck by him through so long; she deserved to have some kind of joy in her life now it was over and they were forced to be normal people.

It was then that he noticed the dog. He recognised it vaguely but he couldn't name the breed. It was black, brown patches on its chest and on its nose around its lips, and quite skinny in the legs and tight in the body. It was the kind of dog that was used in the police force. Police dogs... it was a kind of police dog... Doberman? That was it. It was a large Doberman dog.

The dog walked into the shop and began to walk straight over to Caine. Caine quickly set his feet down and stood up, walking around the table and frowning. Since when could dogs just walk into shops. Yeah the door was easily pushed open but dogs didn't just enter shops like that, did they? He wasn't sure how he felt about it. He didn't like dogs. He didn't hate them either. Mostly they were annoying and he hadn't been exactly sad when most of them had been eaten in the FAYZ. But he wasn't afraid of them or anything.

Only something was off about this dog. It was watching him closely and slowly making its way towards of him like it had serious thoughts on its mind. Its eyes were unblinking, it didn't growl or bark. It just walked towards of him with wide eyes. Caine moved around the table and opened his mouth to call for Diana but decided against it. If this dog was dangerous he didn't want to put Diana in danger.

"Good boy?" Caine said, slowly walking around, not knowing what else he was supposed to say.

The dog stepped forward, still staying silent. It seemed so fascinated by Caine that it couldn't even bring itself to speak.

"Stay? Sit? Down?" Caine guessed. His fear was leaving as the dog didn't seem to be threatening. It was just acting weird and annoying.

Then the dog barked. It was surprisingly loud and made Caine jump in shock. He blinked and heard Diana call but didn't listen to what she was saying. Fear was back now. He didn't have any powers that would help him. He was weak. He was pathetic. And this animal was dangerous. He saw its teeth.

It jumped forward. Caine ducked down to the side and hit his shoulder against the wall. Everything hurt again. His shoulder, his head thumped and his ribs burned but he forced himself to move because now the dog was growling at him. It didn't know why. It wasn't sure what was happening. It just knew that now that It had found him, It felt the urge to attack him. It felt the urge to hurt him because if It hurt him then It would be free... It knew that if It pushed him then they could be free together. It was weird, but It knew all this like It knew It had to breath.

Caine hurried towards the back room, meaning to warn Diana and maybe lock themselves in together. Then it would give them a chance to find something to fight back or maybe there would be a phone in there to call animal patrol to come and collect that crazy dog. Only before he could get there his ribs burned and stalled him just long enough for the dog to jump and slam the door shut just as Diana was about to leave with a frown on her face.

"Hey!" Diana snapped. "What the hell!" She banged her fists on the door but it was stuck due to the automatic lock and the keys were outside on the counter. "Caine! What's going on?! Is that a dog?!"

Caine had no time to answer. He crawled away from the dog that approached him slowly with a growl and struggled not to seize up in pain. And then he was being lifted off the ground.

The dog was still standing by the door, out of reaching distance of Caine yet some invisible force was lifting him up off of the ground. He was being held in mid air, some invisible hand holding him but he couldn't see or even feel it around his body. Caine looked down and saw the dogs eyes were trained on him as he lifted higher and higher until he was sure he could reach up and touch the ceiling. He struggled but he couldn't lift his arms away from his body and he was starting to feel light headed due to the pressure from his head wound and being lifted into the air. He kicked and shouted but Diana was stuck in the storeroom and they were alone anyway.

"Let me go!" Caine snarled. "You stupid dog! What are you doing?!"

The dog barked and growled, watching him. Caine kicked his legs and tried to pull his arm free from the invisible hold around him. He was finding it hard to breath but luckily there was no longer any pain in his side or shoulder while he was being held up by nothing. But his head was still swimming and he had no idea what this dog was going to do to him now he was at his mercy.

This was his power. Caine knew that now. This dog had his power and he was using it against him. It was just like with Sinder, which really did prove that it wasn't just dead animals that came back to life; it was anyone with the power. And he had no idea how he was supposed to beat this animal! Sinder had been killed with fire, but Bette had been killed with a smack around the head. So what would kill this dog?

He had to think! He wasn't an Astrid The Genius but Caine had his own brains. They had gotten him further than most people had ever gotten and they were going to get him out of this. The problem was that he knew nothing about either Sinder or Bette and so he knew nothing about their powers that he could link with his and this dog. He had no idea what to do and that alone was frustrating him.

Suddenly Caine got an idea. It was a crazy idea, random and he was probably wrong but it was the only idea he had.

But first he had to figure out a way to get down.

Caine turned and glared at the dog. If this dog was really him, then maybe this would work. If it did work then it was going to cause him pain but at least it would get him down.

It worked. They stared at one another, neither breaking eye contact and Caine refused to so much as blink even when his head began to pound even louder. The dog was insulted and angry by the way Caine refused to back down in the same way Caine would be angry. It was angry at the disobedience and the lack of fear while demonstrating Its powers and threw Caine against the nearest wall. The pain was horrible but it wasn't the worst and Caine quickly managed to stand, running towards the counter. He jumped over as the dog raced around and followed him.

There wasn't much behind the counter. Caine grabbed a nearby tea cup and threw it at the dog. The first cup missed but the second hit it right on the head, stunning the dog and causing him to pause for a moment. He paused long enough for Caine to crawl and push himself up against the counter, gripping the cabinet handle with one hand and the other gripping the counter above him. He couldn't move anymore, he was at the end of the wall and the only other place to go was up and over the counter. Caine tried pulling his legs up as close to his torso as he could but the pain was crazy. He felt tears in his eyes but quickly blinked them away, breathing stiff short breaths because deep ones hurt his sides, and waited.

The dog growled, crouching and glaring at him where he half sat half lay on the ground, gripping a handle and the counter above his head.

"Come on you piece of shit bitch." Caine snarled; his breath weak due to pain. "You dirty trampy mutt."

The dog growled but still did not jump or attack. It continued to watch him.

"You really are a bitch." Caine sneered. "You're a frightened little pathetic mutt!"

Caine smirked and laughed just as the dog pounced for him. Caine waited just a second before he pulled open the door. The dog hit it hard, cracking the wooden frame. It stumbled back a few steps before righting itself and ready to jump the door over on top of him. Only Caine had moved by then, leaning around the door and shoving the dog inside. It wasn't a quick or graceful move. The dog wasn't exactly small and so didn't go all the way in at first but it was confused long enough for Caine to slam the door on it. The door caught its tail and paw but it made no sound to show it was hurt.

It made plenty of sounds to show it was angry, however. Caine propped his feet up on the opposite wall, pushing with as much strength as he could afford to spare with his back against the door, holding it trapped inside. He risked breaking his legs but it was the only way he knew how to keep him trapped. Maybe he was wrong. Maybe this wasn't going to work. Maybe his theory was wrong or this was just the wrong way to go about it. But then trapping it, even if this didn't work, didn't exactly have a downside.

Caine loosed his hold just long enough for the dog to snatch its tail and paw out of the way before he had it trapped again. He could still hear Diana shrieking and screaming from inside of the store room, banging on the door with some heavy object that was slowly chipping away splinters but there was nothing he could do for her.

The dog inside the small cupboard was tearing apart at the boxes and bags of biscuits and cookies in its rage that had been stored inside. It didn't even notice that it was trapped at first but when It did It froze. The space was small and dark but that wasn't what bothered It. What bothered It was that It was trapped. It didn't like being trapped. It didn't like feeling trapped. It struggled against Its new cage, Its new prison but there was no way out. Even when It did beat at the door, he was there holding it shut so he could not escape. The boy had him trapped. He was trapped. Trapped. Trapped.

The dog's heart beat rose until it was like a drum in his chest, racking against his ribs so loudly that his head began to ache. His skin was cold under his short fur and he felt his canine body shaking terrible hard as the walls began to close around him and he had no place to escape to. He had flashes from a previous life. A life in the FAYZ. A life where he had been taken down a mine shaft, where he had been trapped there until It was done with him and even after he was allowed to go It still had Its hooks in him and he was still trapped. Trapped.

The dog lifted its head and howled out its anguish and pain and fear. Mostly fear. Actually it was only fear. It wasn't in pain it could only feel fear from being trapped.

It was then, when it threw its body around in the small space and its heart was beating faster than ever before, that the heart beat stopped suddenly and the dog began to burn and melt into a black puddle of ash.

Caine was still leaning against the door when he felt a cold chill. It dribbled over his body; left him shivering and frozen. It streamed down his throat and swirled around his lungs. It filled every part of him just as he felt the black puddle seeping through the cracks of the cupboard. Caine jumped to his feet to avoid touching it and leaned against the counter, still shivering and feeling like his body was turning icy.

"It worked?" Caine whispered, opening the cupboard as a flood of black liquid and ash rinsed from the wooden surface, staining the floor as well as the cupboard itself. "It worked!"

"Caine! What is the hell is happening! Let me out of here! God damn it! Caine!"

Caine looked up to where Diana was still banging against the wooden frame of the store room. He looked back down to where the dog puddle was still growing. Then he looked down at his body that was still blue and shivering from the ridiculous cold. He swallowed and tried to ignore the cold that was still covering his body, assuming it was nerves from nearly dying and killing his own animal creature. Or even discovering the truth before Astrid The So-Called Genius. He lifted his hand in front of him, meaning to guide himself towards the door so that he could let her out but instead the door was ripped from its hinges and thrown across the room.

Diana shrieked and fell back as she watched the door hit the opposite wall and collapse, cracked and broken in several places. Caine blinked in shock and the cold leaked from his body, replaced by warmth once more. He took several seconds, staring from the broken door to his hand and back again as Diana stepped from the store room and looked over at him in complete shock.

"I..." Caine whispered. A grin split across his lips and he fixed his eyes on Diana. "I have my power back."

* * *

**36) What do you think is wrong with Sinder now?**


	18. Chapter 18

Anna had phoned them just like she had promised to. It was after Astrid had finally managed to calm Sam down, telling him he could go and beg for his job back after they at least had a plan as to how they were going to deal with this. She said he could argue personal problems were completely done with after that. They had just moved on to complaining about how reckless Diana was to take Caine to work with her, and how Sam was going to drag him back at that very moment, when Anna had called them from the hospital.

Something was wrong. At the exact time that they had managed to kill the Butterfly, Sinder had woken up. They had run tests but the plants seemed to have melted and evaporated in her blood, leaving her clean and healthy again. That was great. But then there was something new wrong with Sinder. Only now there was something wrong with her mind rather than her body. Anna had been allowed to visit her for a very short time and had seen exactly what they were talking about. Sinder sat in her bed, staring at the wall in front of her with terrifyingly wide eyes and her lips pressed tightly together. When Anna had tried to talk to Sinder she hadn't responded, she just stared at the wall and when she did speak all she could say was "grow". Finally they had ushered her out, saying Sinder needed time to rest, and when she asked what was wrong they said Sinder was relapsing to her days when she was in the psych ward.

"They said that it happens." Astrid grumbled as she retold the stories to everyone else. "That relapses are completely normal for people like Sinder."

Sam nodded. That made perfect sense to him. He knew nothing about the mind and considering Sinder had only just gotten out or therapy and was then attacked by a killer Butterfly that put her in a coma for a whole day, it didn't actually seem that ridiculous for her to be falling back. But when he looked at Astrid she was pursing her lips and frowning.

"You don't think that's the case." Sam guessed.

"What else could it be?!" Kevin scowled.

Astrid turned to glare at him but said nothing. She stood and went to the kitchen to make a cup of tea like she always did when she was running out of things to say.

"We're getting nowhere." Dekka said. "I say we travel to New York and try and catch Duck."

"That's easier said than done." Quinn grumbled. "It'll cost money to get there."

"I have money." Dekka shrugged.

"I think jumping on a plane to New York is risky move considering we still don't know how to kill these things. And how are we supposed to trap Duck to bring him back? He can grow so heavy a plane couldn't carry him, let's not mention a box." Edilio explained.

"Edilio's right." Kevin nodded immediately.

"Then what are we supposed to do?" Quinn groaned.

They fell silent and Astrid slammed the cup down hard enough on the counter that she spilled tea over the sides and onto the counter and she very nearly broke the handle off. Everyone turned to look at her as she stood there, clenching her teeth and her fists.

Sam stood and went over to her side. He stood beside of her and wrapped his arms around her from behind, holding her close and kissing the back of her head in a way he knew that calmed her down. It didn't seem to be working but she didn't push him away either. After a moment she turned and hugged him, burying her face in his shoulders. This just seemed to be piling up on them just like before, it was hard for anyone to handle anymore and Astrid was by far the strongest.

Everyone stayed silent for a moment longer, allowing Astrid and Sam to have their moment together.

"Sitting around here isn't doing any good." Edilio said finally. "I think we need to get ourselves organised."

"You're right." Astrid said, pulling away from Sam. Her nerves gone now. She was going to be strong for this.

"Okay." Sam nodded. "Firs things first, anyone who hasn't already, make calls to family and let them know you'll be staying here for a few days. The last thing we need are disappearance reports on you guys."

They nodded, Kevin headed for the phone while Emily and Roger pulled out mobiles and began to send parents messages. Edilio and Quinn had assumed as much and didn't need to contact family as they had already warned them they were heading off for the next few nights. Dekka just generally thought her parents wouldn't care but asked Emily to borrow her phone just in case and sent a simple text message.

"After that we'll start coming up with plans to look through the streets, cutting it into sections and capturing as many animals as we can. We should know which are which because the ones with powers will fight us back." Sam explained. "After we've caught a few we can work together on killing each of them here in the apartment. We'll try fire with some more, the rest can be stored in the cupboards."

"But how will we catch them?" Roger asked.

"Yeah, you don't have anymore boxes spare, do you?" Kevin snorted.

Astrid frowned and went into her room. She came back a few moments later with a plastic box the same as the one Diana had used for the lizard. It was full of belts and hair bands.

"This is all I have." Astrid explained.

"Okay, maybe we can call Diana. She works at a cafe so maybe she has some spare boxes lying around." Sam suggested.

"You do that." Astrid said, pointing at Quinn. "Roger, you and Edilio go and get a map so we can plan who will look at what part of town. You can print one from Google maps. Emily, Dekka divide up everything here into five different piles for us all to use. Sam and I will raid the house and see if we don't have anything else hidden."

Dekka raised an eyebrow but no one said anything about Astrid making orders. She was best as organising people with jobs out of their group.

After they had called family, Quinn stepped forward and called Diana's work place on the house phone. The number was in a phone book that had been settled on the side and soon he was talking to a very angry man about a broken door and a puddle of oil on the floor. It took Quinn a while but finally he managed to get the man to tell him that Diana had left early after she had let a couple of men destroy the shop. He was still ranting about costs and damages by the time Quinn hung up on him.

When he looked around he saw Edilio and Roger were printing out different areas of the town and putting them aside. Emily and Dekka had settled down on their mattress and began to even out the belts and hair bands in the floor in front of them, working in silence. Sam and Astrid could be heard emptying Diana's room.

"Uh. Sam?" Quinn called.

"What?" Sam called from Diana's room.

"Diana's left work already. And the place was trashed." Quinn shouted.

That caught all their attention. Everyone looked up but no one said anything. Then Sam appeared, stepping out of the bedroom.

**G*O*N*E**

"Stop it!" Diana hissed.

Caine grinned and ignored her. He lifted his hand and knocked over, pushed, lifted up and spun anything that wasn't attached to the ground. She grabbed his hands and forced them down to his side but still he was able to twist them around and lift her up slightly, just enough so that she would let him go.

"Caine! I said stop! What if someone sees?!" Diana snarled, she glanced around nervously but they were alone, thankfully.

"You know no one will see us, that's why you come this way home." Caine laughed.

Diana growled as Caine came to a stop. Caine was grinning from ear to ear, he didn't seem to be noticing any more pains in his body and she hadn't seen him this excited or happy since Quinn came to ask him for help defeating the bugs. He hadn't stopped moving things since and had smiled as Landy had come in screaming at the mess. He hadn't even gotten angry when Landy had thrown them out the shop and threatened Diana. He wouldn't fire her. He would just make her clean it all up and pay as soon as he worked out how much it would all cost and had calmed down.

They were not even halfway home yet when Caine had stalled once more, staring at his hands and marvelling in the powers that he had come back to him. His smile stretched again and he waved his hand, knocking a bin so hard against the wall that it crumpled in on itself and was left broken and bent on the floor.

"I told you." Caine whispered, looking up at the sky as if he was thanking God. "I told you I'd get my powers back."

"Yeah, yeah, you're oh so smart and oh so strong." Diana scowled sarcastically. "Now can we get back?! You have to tell the others what you found out!"

"We will in time. I want to test this, see how strong I was. I feel stronger, but that could just be my reaction from going from no powers to all powerful again. I'm actually the strongest person here. I am. I could throw Sam and Astrid out the window, or crush Quinn's skull on the ceiling. Let that Ripley cop or anyone else come after me, they won't get within ten feet!" Caine was just getting started to a whole rant of how powerful he was when Diana slapped him.

She made sure it was a good hard slap right across the face. His head probably hurt again and the way his body snapped was definitely not going to be easy on his side. Caine froze before he turned and stared at her. There was anger, yes, but mostly he was shocked and didn't seem to know what to do.

"No." Diana snarled.

"What?" Caine blinked.

"No! I said no!" Diana shrieked. "We are not doing this again! We are not playing this game again."

"We're-" Caine began.

"NO!" Diana shouted. "I said no! No! No! No!" She stepped back and took a breath, stepping up against the wall of a building and as far as she could get from Caine. She placed hands over her face and slowly pushed them up, running through her hair and pulling it free from its pony tail, letting the hair band drop to the floor.

She did this several times before slowly turning to face him again. She wasn't crying but she looked like she wanted to.

"If you do this, I will kill myself. I cannot handle this again, not when I thought it was over. I can barely handle animals killing people again but if you start planning another take over and start hurting people again then that is it for me." Diana whispered, she was shaking.

Caine said nothing. He didn't know what he could say. Diana had been acting like this before but she seemed to really be shaken this time.

Caine looked away, tucking his hands into the pockets and his shorts and resisting the urge to bite his thumb nail in front of her. This was so unfair! He had his powers back and yet he was still being kept on a leash by his love for Diana. He had all this power, he should have been able to do whatever he wanted and yet here he was debating what he wanted more, Diana or power? Actually he had spent time with each of them. He had Diana on the island and that had been amazing but shortly after he had power and complete control of Perdido Beach.

Both power and Diana had been wonderful. But which one did he want? Which one could he not live without? Which one hurt the most when it was gone?

He wasn't sure. He had hated and survived both times.

"The fact that it is so hard for you to decide says it all." Diana whispered.

"No it doesn't!" Caine snapped.

She turned to walk away but Caine reached up and held her in place. He never liked using his powers on her but sometimes he had to. She stopped moving and just stayed where she was, not even bothering to fight his hold. They held it that way before Caine let her go. This time Diana did not try to run away and instead waited for him to talk.

"That isn't... Who I am." Caine began lamely.

"That's what you said last time." Diana sneered.

"Well it's true! I am who I am! I am me. This is me. You can't change who I am, if you did then I wouldn't be me anymore. If you love me then you won't want me to change, you will want me to be me." Caine argued. He had argued this many times but Diana never seemed to understand or at least she refused to accept it.

"You really don't get it do you?" Diana sneered.

"Get what?" Caine shouted. "That you don't love me? You just love someone you want me to do be!"

"You are such an idiot! You think there is one side to you! There were two sides to me and there are two sides to you! You just refuse to let one of those sides show because you didn't want to let people see it. You're either afraid or embarrassed when the truth is that if you showed that side more you'd probably be more popular than you are now!" Diana argued.

"There aren't anymore sides to me. Just this side." Caine snarled.

"That's what you think." Diana sighed. "But I have seen it. Little ways. When you saved me instead of killing Sanjit. When you gave yourself up to Pete to defeat Gaia. When you fought Gaia on your own or with Sam. You have another side. You just need to realise that."

Caine just glared at her. He would argue, but in honesty there was some truth. He wasn't as ruthless when he fought Gaia, knowing the pain it would cause. But he could argue he did that partly for himself anyway. But then he did save Diana. But that was because he couldn't live without her! Maybe Little Pete. Yeah. He did give himself to Little Pete and sacrifice everything so everyone else could live. Caine chose not to look deeper for his selfish reasons for that answer and instead turned, walking down the alleys, no longer playing with his powers.

Diana sighed again. "Come on. We need to tell the others what you figured out. Plus we were shouting so much, it's a wonder no one heard us and saw you!"

**G*O*N*E**

Ripley stood just at the far end of the alley. He had seen Diana and a mysterious boy and had watched them from afar. When they entered the alley he moved closer so he could see and hear everything they were doing and saying so he saw what the boy was doing and he heard who that boy was when she said his name. Caine Soren. It was crazy, he had seen his death on the cameras as had half of the world that was watching at that moment when they caught it. But yet now he had heard his name, he did see his face and he knew that was the boy that had killed all the other kids in the anomaly. And Princess and her friends were hiding him.

He leaned against the wall and smirked. He had them now. He had them all caught now. Princess was definitely going away forever. Torches and his girlfriend would too if Ripley was lucky enough to get them. And Caine? Well, he'd be lucky if he ended up in prison and not in a laboratory, which was where Ripley hoped to get him.

He had them! Oh joy, Ripley had them!

**G*O*N*E**

"Okay, we'll get to shouting at you both for running off like that later." Sam said angrily. Everyone had finished most of their jobs just as Diana and Caine had walked through the door. "First explain what happened in your shop? Your boss is pissed!"

Diana opened her mouth but Caine stepped in front of her and face to face with Sam. She hesitated but then sighed and headed for the kitchen, climbing over the mattresses to make a drink. She should let Caine have this one moment. And how better to start an explanation than for a demonstration.

"Brother." Caine beamed. "Can I show you a magic trick?"

"What?" Sam frowned.

"A magic trick. I want to show you one."

"Caine, I don't have time for your games." Sam snapped, turning to head over to Diana and demand answers from her.

He took less than two steps when suddenly his feet left the ground and he began to rise up into the air. Sam shouted and reached up, pressing against the ceiling and trying to push himself back down but an invisible hand held him in place. Everyone turned their eyes on him before they slowly looked down to where Caine had his hand pointed out towards of Sam, palm out with a grin on his face.

"Caine..." Astrid croaked.

"I killed a dog today." Caine explained cheerfully, pushing Sam across the room before setting him down on top of the bookshelf. "This dog lifted me up much like I lifted Sam. I killed it... And then I could lift things again." He beamed. "I have my power back."

There was a shocked silence before Astrid, jumping up and knocking things off her lap in her haste to rush to his side. "Tell us everything! The whole story from beginning to end! How did you kill it?!"

Caine smiled at her. "Best part. I worked it out. Way before you, Astrid. I worked out how they die. They die, by their greatest fear. We are literally scaring these animals to death. And their power is our power, so their fear, is our fear.

Astrid blinked and after some nudging from Diana they sat down facing one another and Caine began to explain everything for the second time to those around him. It was clear he exaggerated a lot. The way he said it there was a blood bath and the dog threw him around like crazy before he half beat the dog. But he did tell them how the dog used his powers, how it had acted like him in the sense where it didn't like being challenged and how he had killed it with his own greatest fear. Though Caine pointedly refused to tell them all what his fear was. Diana knew and that was already one person too many in his mind.

By the end Astrid was nodding with a look of wonder on her face. She nodded again and again and looked excited. This all made sense. This was a great step forward now that they knew how this had happened and what they needed to do to beat them. She couldn't help but grin at the others around her. But then a thought came to mind that made her smile drop drastically.

"But wait..." Dekka said, catching on at the same time as Astrid. "The dog dies and you get power back. The butterfly dies and Sinder looses it?"

"I told you. She just lost her mind." Kevin said.

"It seems to make more sense now since Caine's fine." Quinn shrugged.

"No." Astrid argued. "I don't feel like that's it."

"Then what do you think it is?" Emily frowned.

Everyone turned to look at Astrid. She took a breath and frowned. The truth was she didn't have the answer, only guesses that she had made up. She couldn't even put it into words properly of how she was feeling. All she knew was that something didn't feel right. Sam was feeling the same but he wanted Astrid to say it first so he knew he wasn't alone but the best way either of them could think to describe it was simply instinct telling them there was something more behind it.

"It's like... Maybe..." Sam said.

"Maybe what?" Edilio asked.

"Maybe it's not as simple as killing these things." Sam said slowly. "Maybe when we kill our animal each, we get powers back but if someone else kills them... It breaks a part of us."

"Even if that's true, how will we know?" Edilio frowned. "Is someone going to offer up to test it on?"

Silence.

"I will..." Emily said slowly.

"No. We can't ask someone that." Sam said immediately.

"You're not asking." Emily shrugged. "I'm offering."

"It's doesn't even matter!" Quinn interrupted. "We don't even have any of the animals to test on."

"Quinn's right. Let's divide up the maps and catching equipment and see what we can find." Sam said suddenly.

"Catching equipment?" Diana snorted, raising an eyebrow down at the hair bands, belts, rope and string gathered into a pile.

"It's all we have." Astrid shrugged. "We're also going to give money and buy a few dog leashes in order to catch the larger animals. We'll go in twos, each taking a part of the town and spending the day searching. It might not be much, but it will be a start. Maybe as the days go on we can move in with others in other towns and search."

"What if they're not in America?" Diana whispered.

No one answered, not even wanting to think of those possibilities. None of them had the money or the time for that possibility.

"Caine will have to stay here." Sam said, ignoring Diana's question.

"He will not." Caine snorted and jumped in before any of them could argue. "I have power now! I have a better chance of catching these things than anyone. And if I stay in this apartment for even a moment longer I will go crazy. If I wear the hat and sunglasses and avoid people then no one should recognise me and I can help defeat these buggers."

Sam glared at him but Caine just smirked and shrugged, holding out his hand pointed at him but not using his powers. No attack, just a threat.

"You can't exactly stop me anymore." Caine snorted.

"Fine!" Sam spat. "But you stay with Diana! Diana, he is your responsibility."

Diana scowled but said nothing against it. "Fine, what area do we get?"

Astrid handed them Diana's own large bag with the belt, map, hair bands, rope and string inside. She shuffled through and unfolded the map, glancing at the poorly printed Google map image while the rest of them received their bags.

"Edilio and Kevin." Astrid said, handing them one of Sam's old backpacks.

"Dekka and Emily." Astrid gave them Emily's own backpack that had been emptied of her things into a corner of the sofa.

"Roger and Quinn will stay here and be ready for incoming calls and text messages. And Sam and I." Astrid grabbed her new shoulder bag and they stood.

"We'll do it until this afternoon, eight o'clock we all have to be back here." Sam said. He didn't say what would happen if they weren't. If they weren't back by eight they would assume the worst had happened...

**G*O*N*E**

The four different pairs made their way down in different parts of the town. They carried their bags and made sure to avoid the crowded areas whenever possible. It was near impossible the way they were searching to find these animals since they had no idea if there were even any animals left where they lived, but they had seen first hand that some animals were territorial while the others just crazy and they all attacked when approached. That was the only way to tell them apart from other animals. But it still didn't stop them from making mistakes.

Emily tackled a large black dog to the ground and spent ten minutes being shouted at by his owner with Dekka apologising on her behalf. She scratched her legs after pinning the dog down and had to walk with the stinging sensation for the rest of the street. While Kevin had stomped on a rat and accidentally killed the poor creature which led to a young child shrieking and crying to her parents how he had murdered the rat, meaning him and Edilio had to run before anyone caught them and asked uncomfortable questions. And then even Sam had screamed at a little boy to watch out when a cat was seen stalking him from behind. It turned out just to be an extremely friendly stray.

The only ones who hadn't attacked any creatures at random animal yet were Caine and Diana and that was just because Diana was so nervous about Caine being caught that she wouldn't let him go after any animal, even the ones they were suspicious of. They mostly wandered doing nothing but ducking whenever they saw people or with Diana shoving Caine's hat further down to hide his face.

"I don't think we're going to find anything." Emily groaned.

"We have a whole two hours left." Dekka argued. "Don't just give up because you were stupid enough to jump on a dog and hurt yourself."

Emily blushed and scowled. Her and Dekka had gotten the south of the town. They had been walking around the cities in silence mostly but every now and then Emily would ask her a question she refused to answer.

"What's your last name?" Emily asked for the twentieth time. Dekka was starting to keep count now as part of a new game in her mind.

Silence.

"What's your last name?"

Silence.

"I'll stop asking if you just tell me what your last name is." Emily frowned.

"Talent." Dekka growled. "My name is Talent."

"Dekka Talent..." Emily mused.

"I thought you said you'd shut up." Dekka snarled.

"I said I'd stop asking questions." Emily growled, glaring at her. "And don't tell me to shut up."

The two turned and scowled at one another. It seemed they might actually start a fight when Dekka seemed to see something over Emily's shoulder. She turned and blinked. Emily was slow but she looked around and followed Dekka's gaze.

It was a snail. It was settled out in the field with its eyes lifted up and looking straight at the two girls. They couldn't see its eyes, they could just make out its snail body but it was obviously staying still and looking directly at the two of them. And then it disappeared. And appeared sitting on Emily's nose. She stared at it in shock as realisation settled in when she remembered that this was her power. Before she finished the thought, she and the snail disappeared and appeared in the air. Not high enough to kill but certainly high enough to hurt when she hit the ground awkwardly and fell down onto her back, scraping her elbows and banging her funny bone on the pavement.

Emily let out a shriek before she landed on the pavement a good five feet away from where she had originally been standing. She sat up, wincing at her injured leg just as Dekka appeared behind her, somehow staying on her feet but still wincing when she twisted her ankle as she landed. They blinked and looked at one another, then turned and squinted ahead where the snail must have appeared again.

"Was that Taylor?!" Dekka gasped.

"No..." Emily mumbled, no idea who this Taylor girl was. Maybe they had similar powers or something but Emily knew it was her by pure instinct and feel when the power had been used on her. "That's mine."

"You're the snail?" Dekka blinked.

She hadn't said it as an insult, more like she was just stating the fact out loud in an attempt to understand it. But Emily was still annoyed. A snail?! Of all creatures she was a snail?!

"How the hell are we supposed to get close enough to catch it if it can take itself, or us, anywhere it wants?" Dekka demanded.

"I don't know." Emily growled.

"Well it's you, isn't it?" Dekka snapped.

"It's my power!" Emily shouted. "It isn't me! Do I look like a snail to you?"

Dekka ignored her and frowned, trying to come up with some kind of a plan. She turned to look at Emily then shook her head.

"No. Sam's right. You have to kill the snail. This is no time to experiment with your life." Dekka mumbled out loud.

"Glad I could convince you." Emily snorted sarcastically.

"We need to kill it. Tell me your greatest fear." Dekka demanded.

Emily hesitated. She thought back to all the things in life that had frightened her. When she was younger she couldn't stand heights or the dark but she outgrew them. Now, at this moment she was afraid of needles but... But was that what they were looking for or did it have to be from the FAYZ? If that was the case maybe the dark, that's what she had been scared of when the wall changed... No! There was something that she had been afraid of since she was little all the way up until this very moment now!

"I'm..." Emily started then paused and scowled. "You tell me your fear first. I don't want to look like an idiot being all scared."

"You're not." Dekka sighed. "But if it helps, I'm afraid of being eaten..."

"Eaten?" Emily blinked.

"Yeah. I have been thinking about this all day since Caine told us how the creatures were killed. And I remembered that I was nearly eaten alive by bugs in the FAYZ." Dekka shrugged.

"Oh... Well... I'm scared of small spaces. I feel like I can't breath and that I'm being crushed and-" She stopped short and blushed. "I just don't like them."

"Small spaces..." Dekka hesitated. "I think if we catch it in a small space then it will be too afraid to teleport." She emptied Emily's bag on the ground and stood up. "You have to catch it. If I do it will count as me killing it."

Emily sighed and took the bag.

"Once you catch it, hold the bag closed as tightly as you can, don't worry around crushing it. Just grip it tight." Dekka warned. "I'll help but I can't do much."

Emily nodded and turned. "If you distract it..." She began but came up short. "I know!" Emily said. "You run at it. It will teleport you back here, get it away from whatever it must be watching over, and before it can teleport off, I'll throw the bag over it. You might get gunk on your face though."

"That's fine. It's a plan." Dekka nodded. "Get ready."

Emily crouched slightly and held the bag wide open. Dekka waited a second after that before she ran pelting towards the slug. She rushed as fast as she could but didn't get close to the slug before she vanished and appeared by Emily's side again. The problem was she kept running, not realising she had been teleported until too late, and moved out of Emily's way before she could catch the bug.

"Try again." Emily called.

"I won't run this time." Dekka nodded.

She walked, slow. She left the town area and approached the dry grassy earth when the slug appeared on her face, settled on her nose just like before. Now up close she had a second to realise it was glaring at her before she was falling once more. She hadn't even hit the ground before Emily had thrown the bag over her face and pinned it in place. Her body was lying down from the fall that had been slightly higher than before. She momentarily wondered how many times she would have to had approached the slug before it took her so high she fell and died. Dekka held her breath. This was so when the slug wouldn't get it in her mouth but also because there wouldn't be much air by the way Emily was holding it closed.

At first she couldn't feel anything and Dekka dreaded that the slug had teleported off her already. If it could get out even when scared then they had no possible way of catching it. But then she felt it jerk, half on her nose, half between her eyes. It twisted and jerked for a few moments on her face, and then it slowly grew frantic. It moved back and forth, jumping up, crawling over her face. Dekka shut her eyes just in time for it to dart over her eyelid.

Dekka tried not to breath but the slug was acting slow, taking it's time to realise it was trapped in a small space and slowly getting more and more upset. Then it began to thrash on her face, twisting and turning, rolling its slime over her lips, nose and eyelids. At one point it fell into her hair and quickly crawled back up again, throwing its body around. She could hear it... Slugs couldn't make sounds as far as she knew but she could hear the slug. It shrieked and moaned in the same voice was Emily. It moved back and forth and made loud frightening noises.

Just when Dekka was sure she might lose consciousness by holding her breath she felt it. It felt more like egg than anything. She didn't feel the ash though she was sure she could see it if she looked, but it was egg dribbling over her face, on her cheeks, lips nose and over her eye lids. A small part seeped up her nose and she snorted desperately to keep it out. She said she was fine with the creature melting on her face but now she was reconsidering.

Dekka didn't want too long after the slug started to melt before she reached up and patted Emily's arms, pulling the bag off. As soon as Emily lifted it away Dekka sat up, spitting and gasping, wiping the black egg like liquid and ash from her face. It didn't smell. Or she couldn't smell anything from it but it was sticky to her skin and she struggled to wipe it from her face as well as her hands.

"It worked..." Emily whispered.

"Test it on us." Dekka moaned. "Teleport us to the apartment so I can wash properly."

Emily did just that. One moment they were in the streets the next they stood in the bathroom back in Sam's home. Dekka washed her face for almost ten minutes and let Emily take her back before Quinn or Roger even knew they were there.

She had checked herself in the mirror. There was now a stain on her face. Her skin just a darker shade than usual where the dark liquid had spread over her face making a strange marking on her face that made her cringe. It also coated on her hands and made them look darker too. Emily politely said nothing about it. She was too busy grinning much like Caine.

Emily liked powers and was just as excited as Caine to have them back again.

"This is great! Tell you what, Dekka." Emily grinned. "Why don't I teleport a bit further out away from the town, see what there is and come back. We can check so much more area this way."

"And if someone sees?" Dekka demanded. Already Emily was getting too cocky.

"I'll vanish before they can say anything. Or I'll play dumb." Emily shrugged. "Do you know how many people have claimed they saw powers when there weren't any? No one will believe them and we're not even doing it in town. We're checking outside the town where hardly anyone is."

Dekka hesitated. It would be a quicker way and no one would see. And she could see Emily was itching to use her powers.

"Okay. But take me with you. You can do that, right? What's your range?" Dekka asked.

"Let's test it."

They disappeared from the town... And appeared in a completely different city. It was bright with signs up everywhere in a completely different language. After a glance at the signs, it only took them a few moments of looking around before Dekka realised where they were.

"Oh my God!" Emily shrieked, beaming. "WE'RE IN CHINA!"

"China... No way..." Dekka whispered.

"Our powers... They must be ridiculously strong now. Imagine that. After we get them back we're as strong as we can possible get." Emily whispered, looking around before looking down at her hands in wonder.

"Get us out of here!" Dekka snapped. "We're lucky it's night and no one can see us!"

Emily grinned and nodded. She took them exactly back to the same space as before, shaking with excitement. She jumped slightly in the air and grabbed Dekka.

In seconds the two of them searched almost every inch of space in between their town to the next several surrounding it. It was all open space and all empty. No more animals or people. The only thing they saw was the small hole where Emily Snail had obviously been guarding. They moved around in quick bursts, appearing and disappearing. Dekka had to admit it was nice and while it wasn't her power it was like having a power back which did give her a bit of a boost. She could see why both Emily and Caine were so excited.

For a moment she wondered about getting her own power back... But then shook it from her mind. First keep an eye out and maybe if they came across their power then worry about it. She wouldn't allow herself to get so cocky like Emily and Caine had clearly gotten.

"Okay. I think that's everywhere we can look." Dekka sighed, looking back towards the town in the far off distance. "Why don't we go back into the town? But that means you can't use your powers anymore."

Emily said nothing.

Dekka frowned and nudged her from behind with her elbow. "Come on, take us back to town."

"Dekka..." Emily's voice sounded small and... She found scared. "That isn't an animal."

Dekka frowned and turned around. She didn't have to look far to see what Emily saw.

"No. No that isn't an animal, Emily." Dekka whispered, hearing her own fear now. Her heart froze for a second before it began to speed up and she grabbed nervously at Emily's hand. "We have to get out of here. We can't beat that. We can't beat them two!" She knew exactly who they were. They had almost human faces after all.

"What is that? That isn't an animal." Emily croaked.

"Ever seen the cartoon film Hercules?" Dekka asked.

"Yeah." Emily mumbled.

"Then try and remember Hercules' first heroic fight." Dekka pointed at the creature in the distance that was already walking towards of them. "That... Is a Hydra."

* * *

**37)Who do you think the Hydra is?**

**If you don't know what a Hydra is you might wanna look it up. Or remember the old Hercules film. The thing with the many heads. **


	19. Chapter 19

Sam and Astrid were wandering passed a pet shop in town when Astrid pulled him to a stop, grabbing his arm just bellow the elbow. She was staring in at the mice running around in the window case, all pure white, small and barely older than babies with brightly coloured eyes. For a moment Sam wondered if Astrid wanted a pet. It was an odd time to decide that and they were strapped for money now Sam had lost his job, but maybe a pet would be nice to have around the apartment.

"Let's ask them if they've found any new animals in the last two days or so." Astrid said suddenly.

"You think mutant animals would be waiting in a pet shop?" Sam asked sceptically.

"It's worth a try." Astrid snapped, blushing because she knew it sounded stupid. "We've been wandering for hours, and we don't have long before we have to meet the others. We haven't even caught one thing yet."

"Okay. Do you want to check out the shop?" Sam asked slowly.

"Yes, please." Astrid smiled sarcastically before she turned and walked into the shop, visibly annoyed.

She wasn't annoyed with Sam. Well, she wasn't completely annoyed at Sam. She didn't like the way he had spoken to her like she was grasping at straws. She was. But Astrid didn't like it being pointed out to her like that. But that wasn't what had her so angry. What had Astrid so frustrated was actually the fact that they had not caught anything. Some crazy part of her had actually thought that it would be that easy, or at least slightly, maybe one or two at the least. The fact that they had wandered and found nothing was making her nerves sensitive and she was taking it out on Sam.

The shop wasn't very big or even very full. There were a few mice, cats and dogs and rabbits but there were also birds and fish. Each separated into a certain part of the store. The strange part was that it was unnaturally quiet inside of the shop, only the mice and fish seemed to be moving around and they were the ones right by the window away from the back of the shop. As they wandered passed Sam watched Astrid look in each of the animals in their cages. She was saying she wanted to find mutants but Sam still had the feeling she was searching for her wishful pet. And Sam was sure he was right when she stopped to stroke a kitten that pressed against its cage.

The animals were all still and silent, sitting and staring at the far end of the store but right up until Astrid and Sam walked by them. As soon as they walked up to them they began to act normal, meowing and purring or barking and wagging their tail. And then when they walked away again they returned to sitting in silence and staring at the back of the store. It was weird but neither of them knew very much about animals so they could hardly complain.

"Let's check the birds. Then maybe someone in the back can help us. If nothing I guess we head back home." Astrid shrugged with a miserable sigh.

"Okay." Sam said, following her through the shop.

The shop owner must have stepped out back and the store was empty apart from the animals themselves. Sam didn't like how silent the shop was. Even when it was empty of people there were normally animals shouting loudly or running around and slamming on the ground. Or at least that was what he thought. The shop was just so quiet... So silent... Too silent. They may not know much about shops and animals but they knew this much.

"This doesn't sound like a pet shop." Astrid whispered finally.

Sam nodded his head slowly. "Yeah, I see what you mean."

"Why?"

"Maybe it's just that time of day." Sam shrugged.

"No it's something more." Astrid whispered.

"I don't think there's anything more." Sam said over a parrot that was shouting over the top of them while they spoke. "Maybe it's just... I dunno, maybe it's just because of us being here."

"Us? Why would it be us?" Astrid scowled. "We're normal. They should be going crazy to see us here. That's what they know to do. It's not even that late so they can't be tired."

"It's a little late." Sam shrugged. Then frowned at the counter.

He ignored Astrid as she walked around towards the bird's area and instead walked towards the counter. There was nothing behind there but the door was open a jar. Slowly he edged over the counter and pushed the door open. No sooner had it opened he felt his body freezing and feeling his chest tighten. He quickly shut the door and swallowed hard.

"Astrid?" Sam said slowly. "I think I know why they're all so quiet today."

Astrid didn't hear him. She was too busy staring at the parrots all in one cage together in the very corner of the store beside the counter.

"Astrid." Sam said more urgently. He was shaking and he felt cold down to his bones. "Astrid!"

"What?" Astrid blinked as if only just hearing him.

"The owner... The owner of the shop, or maybe the manager of the shop or the worker or whoever he is... He's been shot. He's dead." Sam croaked.

"What?" Astrid gasped.

"There's a bullet wound and blood all on his chest and... I think we need to call the police." Sam croaked, his throat aching like he had been screaming for hours.

"Are you sure?" Astrid moaned, covering her mouth and not wanting to believe it.

Sam stepped away from the door and pulled out his phone. They were both shaking now. This was the first kind of normal human adult against adult caused death that either of them had seen ever.

"Sam... Wait..." Astrid whispered as he pressed down the numbers.

Sam paused where he was about to call the police and lowered the phone. "What is it?"

"I hate you."

"What?" Sam blinked.

"I really hate you. And I hope you die. I want you to just stick your head down a dog's mouth and let him-" Astrid cut herself off and moaned loudly in frustration. "That bird!"

"Wait what? What... What the hell just happened?" Sam blinked.

"Sam. Do me a favour. Real quick, just tell me that you hate me." Astrid demanded, glaring at the parrot in the cages.

"I hate you?" Sam blinked, confused.

"No, say it like you mean it. Say it like you hate me. Just quickly." Astrid snapped.

"I... I hate you." Sam said, frowning.

"Lie."

Sam blinked; he turned and looked up at the parrot settled in with the others in its cage. Only it wasn't really with the others. The other birds were all at one end of the cage and this lone parrot was settled at the other end, staring at them both with unnaturally focussed, almost human eyes. He realised it had been the only thing that was constantly making a noise since they stepped inside. It was saying the same two words over and over again out loud but neither had noticed until now.

"That is a dog." Sam said, pointing at the parrot in front of him.

"Lie."

"That is a bird." Sam said slowly.

"Truth."

"I am a dog."

"Lie."

"No freaking way!" Sam laughed, momentarily forgetting the blood bath just in the back room.

"I think it's Toto." Astrid mumbled. "Only. It isn't like the others. I mean it isn't attacking us when we get close. It's just... Unless... Oh my... Oh damn it!" She shouted looking both frightened and angry.

"What is it?" Sam stressed.

"Sam... This is just a just a theory so don't rely on it too much but what if Toto is the reason the owner got shot?" Astrid whimpered.

"How? All he does is tells truth and lies?" Sam frowned.

"What if the owner tried to lie to someone dangerous? Or even scam them with some kind of sick or dangerous animal they either wanted to keep or give away? The truth can sometimes really hurt people. We don't know how long the parrot has been here? I mean, the owner could have just had to lie about the condition of an animal to someone to spare their feelings with the painful truth but it could really upset them." Astrid moaned.

"So you think the bird told someone about the owner lying to them, either lying to get more money or trying to help them... And they took a gun to his chest." Sam mumbled. He could see that... Sadly he could really see that all too clearly.

"Do you think... Do you think Toto Bird will let us take him back home with us?" Astrid mumbled. She had another theory on why Sinder Butterfly was so territorial but she didn't want to say in case she was wrong and they made a mistake trying to catch Toto Bird.

"I don't know..." Sam shrugged. "Let's try."

Astrid walked over to the cage and struggled for a moment with the door before Sam found the keys on the counter behind them. When they opened the cage door and reached inside the parrot didn't move until Astrid touched him gently on the feet. Then it moved fast, slamming its beak down on her hand hard enough for her to shriek and fell back onto the ground. She clutched her hand which was bleeding and hanging limp from her wrist.

"Are you okay?!" Sam shouted, worried there would be some poison in his beak that would leave Astrid in a coma just like Sinder but she didn't pass out in front of his eyes.

Astrid sat up and rubbed her hand where Toto Parrot had hit her. She looked up and her eyes widened in confusion and obvious pain. Toto Parrot was shaking under his feathers and looked scared of them. Remembering that they died from fear Sam stepped up to the cage without actually sticking his head or hand in at pecking range. Instead he got as close as possible to the metal bars. The bird watched him and shuffled away on its own false tree branch.

"Astrid, are you okay?" Sam called back when she didn't answer him.

"I-I think so, he really hurt my hand." Astrid complained.

Sam wasn't sure if the Toto Parrot was poisonous but hopefully not since Astrid didn't seem to be having any strange reaction to him.

"Come here a second, I want to try something."

Astrid stood and went by his side, still clutching her hand. They stood there as the Toto Parrot began to get worked up, shuffling around in the cage, trying to move away from them but not wanting to leave the area it claimed his.

Just as the bird began to seem like it might die, its feathers darkening and its body shaking faster than anything they had seen before, Astrid grabbed Sam's arm and dragged him back. She pulled him a safe distance away until the bird had stopped shaking and stood perfectly still, watching them closely as its feathers returned to their normal bright shade.

"What are you doing?" Sam blinked. "It was working, Toto always hated strangers and we're scaring him just by being here. That must have been his biggest fear. We didn't even need him here to tell us."

"That's it, we're scaring him." Astrid hissed. "Remember our theory? Toto's still alive. If we kill this animal then won't Toto end up like Sinder?"

Sam hesitated, suddenly feeling stupid for not thinking of that. But at the same time he still had his doubt. How could he say he just thought Sinder had lost her mind without sounding horrible? But in truth, he wondered if he even believed that. "Yeah but... We don't even know if that's true." He mumbled. Sam didn't want to leave this bird to hurt anyone else but he didn't want to hurt Toto either just in case.

"Do you want to risk it?" Astrid asked, frowning at him.

Sam sighed after a moment of arguing in his head. "Okay then, what did you have in mind?"

Astrid took her time before answering and glanced over at the door. Then she turned back to the cage. "Let's free these other birds. Then we can cover the cage so it doesn't see us and get scared and hide it out in the apartment. It can't starve or die of thirst so if we hold it until... I don't know... We get a hold of Toto or something?"

Sam nodded and moved around. Luckily there were two openings to the cage and one of them was where the rest of the birds crouched away from Toto Parrot. They probably had been waiting for someone to free them away from this bird that all the animals could clearly sense was strange. They shot out the minute they were allowed to do so and Astrid hurried around the counter, avoiding the door where the dead man waited behind, and grabbed a thick blanket that had been used for someone putting their feet up. She hurried back just as Toto Parrot seemed to be getting worked up again and threw the blanket over the cage so he could no longer see them. It was like when they put the blanket over the cage to get the birds to go to sleep, darkness leading them to believe it was night. Maybe Toto Parrot would think it was night and drift off to a soundless sleep while they carried him back home.

Of course this wasn't a normal bird and so neither of them was even sure if this was going to work. For all they knew the bird was going to die anyway because he wouldn't fall asleep and would realise that they were carrying him. But they had no other choice. They just couldn't leave him there.

"You ready? The cage is pretty big and probably heavy." Astrid said, walking around the side.

"Wait." Sam said suddenly. "I have a theory for Lizzie Lizard. Can you go down the street and buy a Halloween mask?"

"It's not exactly Halloween..." Astrid said slowly, frowning.

"See if you can't find any mask then. Anything that might look scary to a little girl, even if you have to draw on it." Sam said.

"What about you? What are you going to do with Toto?" Astrid blinked.

"I'm strong, remember." Sam grinned. "I can carry this cage by myself back to the apartment. It's not that far."

Astrid hesitated, not sure even he could lift a heavy cage like this, but then headed from the shop as she was asked. She paused once more before shaking her head. They could call the police when they got back to the apartment.

"Meet you at the apartment?" Astrid asked.

"It's a date." Sam joked.

As Astrid left, Sam glanced under the blanket at the bottom of the cage. There didn't seem to be any black puddle growing. The bird seemed to be in one piece still. He glanced around at the cage itself. It was quite big and bulky but at least it wasn't attached to the wall so he could lift it with some effort. Sam reached around the side, not wanting Toto Parrot to see his hands underneath, and heaved the cage up into the air.

It was heavy, that was for sure, but Sam's body was just as strong as before the FAYZ, if not stronger from his days working at the beach. He struggled as he walked towards the door then hesitated, glancing back. Even in times like this he found himself wondering if it would be okay if he could take one of the kittens and give them to Astrid for a gift... No, he could come back after this whole mess has been sorted. Then, and only then, would Sam pick up the little ginger one.

**G*O*N*E**

"I didn't break its neck this time." Kevin beamed as he reached down and grabbed the rat by its tail.

Edilio smiled back and walked over. Kevin was really weird, in a good way of course. He hadn't changed much from the FAYZ as far as Edilio could remember. Kevin used to guard the streets; he walked around with a gun in hand and helped split fights and stop kids under the age of five from running around with weapons too dangerous for them. He had been at the lake when Gaia had attacked and for the last few days of the FAYZ he has rambled and refused to let go of his gun. But as time passed, just days before the wall came down he was back and helping out once more.

"Good job, but I don't think it's supernatural. Let it go." Edilio sighed. They hadn't had very much luck.

Kevin growled and threw the rat down, watching it scurry off behind the bins where it came from. He crossed his arms angrily over his chest and grumbled under his breath. Back in Perdido Beach he had been bored but at least he wasn't on a goose hunt. Part of him worried about his family back home. Were they being attacked by mutated animals? Was his older brother being killed? Were his parents being chased? What about his friends and distant family?

"What if Perdido Beach is in danger?" Kevin asked suddenly.

"We'll get to it." Edilio said. Was that a lie? He hoped they could but how far would they be able to travel to defend people? How far could they go to find these mutant animals and how much time would they have to do so?

"How much longer are we going to check for?" Kevin quizzed.

"We have an hour or so left." Edilio mumbled. He checked and then was shocked to see they had less than half an hour to get back. "Maybe less."

"Should we head back?" Kevin paused. They had gotten the centre of the town to search which was busier and more rat infested than anything else.

"Yeah, come on."

The two of them began to walk back down the street in the direction of the apartments. It was short and there was no real time to have a conversation. Most of the time was spent looking around in search of mutated animals.

They were almost home when they spotted Sam, struggling down the street with something large in his arms covered by a thick blue blanket. He stumbled as he crossed the road and nearly ran into someone texting. He managed to sidestep him at the last minute but Sam received a lot of dirty looks before he even finished crossing the road. Edilio and Kevin hesitated before they ran over to his side.

"Hey! Sam!" Edilio called. "What are you doing?"

"Edilio? That you?" Sam turned clumsily and almost dropped the cage on his feet but somehow managed to get a grip on it.

"Yeah, man. What is this?" Edilio blinked, helping Sam support the cage.

"Thanks." Sam said. "And... Uh... It's Toto."

"... Toto?" Edilio blinked. "You mean his animal? What is he?"

Kevin tried to look underneath the blanket but Sam pulled it away from him sharply. "Don't! Toto's... Well he's afraid of people and we don't want him to die unless it does something to the real Toto."

"Oh. That makes sense." Kevin nodded.

"Let's get him back to the apartment." Sam grumbled.

The three of them walked down the road, Sam and Edilio carried Toto Bird while Kevin trailed behind the two of them.

They were almost home when they heard a scream. It came from right beside of them and they all jumped in shock. Sam and Edilio struggled to keep hold of the cage.

"What was that?" Sam blinked.

Kevin turned and walked towards the right, not waiting for Sam and Edilio to rush and set Toto Bird on the ground so they could follow him. They didn't have to walk far before they found a small corner shop where three people were running from. There were only three people including the staff member but they all looked horrified and ran down the streets, not looking back.

They walked around and stepped into the shop. It looked a mess. The shelves were on the floor, magazine and newspaper was shredded with sweets and crisps crushed into crumbs and drinks flooding the tiled floor. Cigarette packets were scattered and there was a mixture of paper and hard money that reached every corner of the shop. It looked like someone had set a bomb off inside the building. And then, of course, there were the two animal-like mutated creatures standing in the middle of the room fighting.

There were two different animals, or one animal and something else that resembled an animal but not something any of them could name to exact specie. The first animal looked like a hare, but an unnatural hare. It was quite small, soft brown fur covered its bodies with large ears that were fallen down behind its body as it crouched down and glared at the creature in front of it. Only it wasn't a normal hare because it had blade like claws sticking out of its paws that were growing ever so slightly while they watched and sharp blade like teeth. There even seemed to be something sharp growing from under his fur but it was moving far too slowly to be a threat... At least not at the moment.

The creature crouched down at the thing standing in front of it. They had no idea what this creature was though it did look like some kind of male deer. At least none of them had seen anything like it before. It resembled a male deer closely enough, thick and big with large male horns on its head stretching almost towards the ceiling. It looked even bigger compared to the small animal in front but the weirdest part was that it didn't have fur or skin. The whole creature, from every patch of skin to its antlers and feet, was covered in a type of gravel stone.

"That's... That's..." Edilio whispered.

"It's Orc." Sam nodded. He watched the hare vanish and appear at Orc, slashing its claw like paws at him. It didn't scratch him, its rock too hard to penetrate, but it did make the Orc animal back away from the hare's speed that seemed impossibly fast. "And Brianna..."

"Are they fighting?" Kevin blinked.

"I think so, or trying to..." Sam mumbled.

They watched from the doorway as Brianna Hare ran at Orc Buck and tried slashing at him, attacking him with her blades but doing no affect against his tough skin. But at the same time whenever Orc would try and crush, smack or hit her, she would move out of the way in swift motions. Neither of them could beat the other.

"Quick!" Sam hissed. "Think, we need to think. What are Brianna and Orc scared of? They both died in the FAYZ so we have to kill them before they hurt anyone else."

"How are we supposed to fight those things?" Kevin hissed. "They'll attack us first!"

"No, they're too busy with each other." Sam whispered. "Now think. Edilio, what were Brianna and Orc most scared of?"

Edilio bit his lower lip, never taking his eyes of the two as they danced around one another, making a mixture of animal and human growls. He didn't know Orc very well, maybe he was scared of hurting someone since he grew so upset over Bette, but that seemed like more guilt than fear. He honestly couldn't think of anything Orc was scared of... Apart from maybe being beaten up. He fought Drake and didn't want to lose that human skin; he feared becoming a monster if he lost that last part of skin... Maybe there was a weak part on this Buck creature that was weak and if they attacked it then it would die.

But they couldn't be sure and they couldn't get close enough to search the thing to see if it had any weak patches.

"I'm not sure about Orc..." Edilio admitted and tried to think for Brianna.

There were so many things Brianna could be afraid of that she hid from them. Maybe it was being immobilized so she couldn't run so she was technically defenceless. Or maybe it was having her hands trapped like what Caine did to the Freaks back when the FAYZ first started. Or maybe it had something to do with the way she died.

"I don't know!" Edilio snapped, angry at himself.

"Maybe we should..." Kevin began but cut himself shot. No, they couldn't capture these guys. Brianna wouldn't be caught and Orc was ridiculously big to hide in their apartment.

No one knew what to do. They had no way of finding out their greatest fear and even if they did they couldn't be sure they would be able to do it on them. It was starting to seem hopeless. Any minute now the police would be called by one of the panicking people and then they would be forced to stay back. God knows how many officers would die, and even if they did catch them they'd probably just end up experimenting on them. Somehow these creatures did seem like their friends and Sam was determined to let them all find some peace and rest wherever they were going.

Just as Sam was about to step forward and take charge something, again much like a bomb threw the three of them backwards, pushing them so they all landed hard on the rubbish underneath them and shattering the windows on top. Sam and Edilio covered their faces but Kevin had hit the wall and lay in a confused state as pieces of glass fell over his face, scratching him but thankfully most of it had been blown outside rather than in and he didn't cut himself too badly and nothing landed in his blinking eyes.

Sam sat up slowly, groaning in pain and blinking ahead. The ceiling had been pulled apart like a pair of giant hands had forced their way through and ripped the roof to either side like a packet of crisps. He gawped up at the thing that was now hovering just inside the area that had been broken apart.

The best way to describe it was to say a fairy. It looked like a toddler, dark brown hair that barely fell past her chin with pale skin, small and skinny with bright pink cheeks and a wide nose. She had thin lips and was dressed in what looked like a plain pink baby pyjamas that covered the feet and wrists but left her human hands free. She had a round face, small ears and bright pink clips either side in her hair. And then there were the real things that drew the eye. The wings. Three pairs of fairy wings, they were plain coloured, long and rounded at the ends. The top were aqua blue, the middle were light purple and the bottom were lime green. She hovered in the air with plain white milky eyes like a blind person but she looked from Orc to Brianna like she could see.

Sam slowly stood up, glass falling and spraying in loud tinkling noises at his feet. He took a step forward and hesitated, this thing was dangerous. Beside of him, Edilio was slowly sitting up and Kevin was climbing onto his hands and feet, cutting his hands.

The fairy looked over at Sam, Kevin and Edilio. She moved, her wings very gently moving against the wind as she lowered herself to the ground and looked around again. By now Brianna and Orc were cowering against the wall, looking nervous. Sam felt nervous. He didn't have animal instinct but even then he could feel the aura beating off of her, overpowering everything in the room and crushing them under her power.

The fairy turned to the hare and lifted her hand, pointing her palm at Brianna. Brianna shrieked and tried to run but she was frozen, she shrieked and screamed as her fur and skin began to burn and in seconds she melted into a puddle of oily water ash. Her screaming somehow echoed even after her death for minutes before she was silent. The fire that burned her while she had been frozen was now catching on anything it could around her as the fairy turned to face Orc.

Orc actually made to turn and run, its four feet galloping away from the fairy and towards the door, heading over to trample Edilio and Kevin who still lay in his way of the door. It didn't make it very far before it was picked up off the floor by an invisible object and thrown at the wall opposite. It was thrown against the wall, the remainder of the ceiling and the floor. Orc let out an angry growl and tried to drag its limp body away but the fairy settled down on the ground in front of him and pointed both palms at the creature. He, too, burst into flames and let out a bellow of fear and agony. Finally Orc turned into a puddle of ash just like Brianna.

Sam gasped, staring down at the two puddles before his eyes found the fairy once more. She looked familiar, and he had a horrible feeling he knew who exactly she was. But the question was... Was she the good Gaia, or the bad Gaia? Did it make a different?!

"RUN!" Sam snapped.

He grabbed Edilio and dragged him to his feet, pushing him to the door. He ducked over and grabbed Kevin, pushing him after Edilio. As soon as the two of them were running out the door and down the street Sam followed, risking only a small glance back. Fairy Gaia turned and began to make her way towards of them. She was heading for the kill.

**G*O*N*E**

The pain was almost numb now. Lana couldn't feel most of her injuries and she was horrified when she realised it was just what it had been last time. Her body was rotting. She was slowly dying just like when she had been in the crash and spent days in the hot desert sun. She wasn't in the hot sun this time, but she was still stuck inside. Somehow she had dragged herself towards the phone but only after passing out repeatedly. And when she did reach the table where the phone sat she had no strength to reach up and grab it. She couldn't do anything more than lie there and cry and scream. She screamed but no one came. She cried but no one heard her. The worst part wasn't that no one heard her. It was when she heard other people screaming and crying too.

Time was hard to keep track of, even with a clock she passed in and out and was so confused that she didn't understand anything. She hoped someone would come for her soon but would they? She wished Ben would show up but he didn't know where she lived, no one did. Lana felt safer not having anyone know much about her and now it was coming back to bite her in the ass. The only hope was that someone would grow suspicious with Patrick at the Vet and would somehow realise something was wrong if she didn't answer the phone and then they might call the police. Though Lana didn't know how they would face against that monster!

Gold appeared in front of her eyes. Lana looked up, sure she was dreaming, and gasped, ignoring the pain as she stared up at Taylor, who hovered over her. She had no expression on her face but she was watching Lana with wide eyes...

**G*O*N*E**

"I'll get it away!" Emily declared loudly.

"You'll what?!" Dekka snapped.

"It's heading for the town!" Emily snapped back, pointing at the creature. "We have to get it away from there! The oceans not far off! I can teleport myself, and maybe even that creature, straight into the water."

"That's crazy! We don't know if that will even work." Dekka snarled.

"It's all we have!" Emily shoved Dekka backwards. "You! Go! Run! Find... I don't know, go find Caine! He's the only one else with powers! We have to do something before it destroys the town!"

Dekka growled. She didn't want to go. She didn't want to leave, she didn't want to let Emily fight this thing on her own but she saw sense in Emily's words. After a hesitation she slapped Emily gently on the back in encouragement, turned, and ran for the town in the opposite direction.

"Don't die!" She called back as she ran.

Emily nodded to her back and turned to face this thing. Emily had never met Drake or Brittney but she had heard plenty about them, including how they became one unkillable machine and how they had tried to help kill everyone in the FAYZ. And now they were back as some monster Hydra.

Emily vanished and appeared just a few feet away from it.

While she began to lead the Hydra away, Dekka ran and ran. She had never run so fast in her life even during the FAYZ. Her legs were already hurting and her stomach was clenching but she refused to slow down until she was hitting the streets and all this healthy energy kept her going. Her best hope was to get to the apartment and get Diana's phone number. Then send Caine to help Emily.

That was the plan. Get to apartment. Phone Diana. Send for Caine. Rush back and help in anyway that she could. Not that she could help much anyway.

Dekka was still running when she tripped and landed hard on her hands and knees, she scratched herself badly and drew a little blood. She hesitated, just long enough to climb back onto her feet and take a few deep breaths when something caught her eye. It was a car that was parked beside of the road on a near empty street. The car looked normal, but there were slight bloodstains along the bottom of the window.

For a moment she forgot about Emily and the hydra and stepped up to the car, probably nothing but maybe something... A quick look in and she saw a leopard, settled on the back seats, chewing on the remains of a teenager's body. The adults seemed to have fallen down under the front seats, barely enough meat left on their bodies to be called human anymore and Dekka had to step back to vomit on the ground. The bodies had been there for a while, they were starting to rot and Dekka felt light headed.

She turned and looked back in the car window. The leopard had stopped chewing on the teenager, Dekka didn't look close enough to see if it was a boy or a girl, it now looked up at Dekka with large eyes, growling. It didn't use any powers but Dekka heard her own voice in the animal's growl. This was her animal side. She was the leopard.

Before she could think anything else, she remembered telling Emily just what he greatest fear was and resisted the urge to vomit again. Did that mean she would need to EAT the leopard?!

Dekka stared down at the leopard as it – she – stared back up at her. Neither of them did anything for a moment when Dekka took a breath and ripped the door open. As soon as it was open her body began to leave the ground. Dekka let out a short shriek and held on the door tightly, gripping it with her feet hanging above her as the gravity lifted her up. Dekka gripped the door tightly and tried to drag herself down to the ground but that was near impossible with gravity pulling her away.

"STOP!" Dekka snapped. "Let me down you stupid animal! Let me down!"

The leopard snarled up at her. Dekka used all her strength to pull her down until she was holding on to the bottom of the car. Her fingers clung on desperately and she knew if she let go then the leopard would take her a thousand feet in the air and drop her just like that. Or maybe it would keep lifting her higher and higher until she was caught in space and suffocated.

"NO!" Dekka shouted. "No! No, no, no!"

She was not going to die. She was not going to be killed by her own power.

Dekka held on tightly with one hand, so tightly the bottom of the car began to cut into her fingers, and reached with her free hand for anything she could. For a moment she found nothing but then her hand got a hold of a bone from inside the car under the leopards paw. Dekka pulled it free, ignoring the dried blood and rotting skin she also felt and brought it around, hitting the leopard hard under the chin.

Instantly gravity stopped and Dekka dropped down hard onto the ground. She bit her tongue and drew blood. Sitting up she gripped tightly on the bone and brought it around again, hitting the leopard again on the head and then hitting it again on the back and again on the paw and again and again and again. She kept on hitting the leopard for a few minutes, making sure it was too dizzy to cancel gravity again.

Then she grabbed the animal and pulled it from the car, throwing it down on the ground and hitting it twice more with a lot of effort. Dekka wanted to hesitate. She wanted to resist and cringe but there was no time. She had to do this now. As soon as she stopped hitting the animal, Dekka leaned forward and bit down hard into the leopards arms.

Fur filled her mouth but she kept biting until she had skin and blood in her mouth. It was slightly easier when she forced herself to remember starvation, a time when she did jump on birds and cats just as much as the next person and eat them live and raw. It was easier than she thought and she began to take a second bite.

Halfway through the third the leopard melted in her hands and in her mouth. It took a while and she didn't want to stop chewing until it was completely dead. Dekka vomited a second time on the ground, this time vomiting a black sticky ashy liquid. Dekka vomited twice more, then gagged three times and tried to wipe the liquid from her hands and her lap as best as she could. Now her hands were stained once more and so were her lips and probably the inside of her mouth. Dekka hurried over towards the nearest house to ask them to allow her to clean up but she pulled up short. No time, she had to get back to Emily. She had been delayed long enough getting her power back; she had to go save Emily!

There were two people left on the street down at the far end that had seen her. But they must have seen it from far away and only guess half of what she was doing and they didn't come to question her at all.

The run back was seconds compared to the run away. Soon Dekka was darting towards down the stretched land. She didn't waste time checking her powers, they were there. She could feel it.

The hydra had its back to her. It's large claw like hands were snapping at something in front of it while slow legs moved it away from Dekka. Its many heads were constantly twisting and turning in the same way that Drake's tentacle arm would move even when wrapped around his body. The faces were mismatched, blending together and normal. It was monstrous even from behind.

Dekka ran around it rather than straight passed it. So she was still quite a bit far off when Emily appeared in the edge of the water. She vanished and appeared a good few waves in the water, the hydra following her in. It was knee deep when Emily vanished and appeared further back.

And it was then when Emily looked and saw Dekka. It was only for a second, she immediately turned her attention back to the hydra in front of her but it was long enough to stall her. Long enough for one of the hydra's claws to slash out and stick its claw somewhere between her stomach and her chest. She vanished and appeared beside of Dekka just as it hit, collapsing to the floor in a heap.

"Emily!" Dekka gasped.

She rolled on the ground and stared up at Dekka in shock. Slowly a red stain began to grow on her stomach where the claw had just touched it. It seemed to have stabbed deeper than Dekka realised and the blood stain was growing and began to flood the area around her.

"EMILY!" Dekka shrieked as her skin grew pale and her eyes began to roll into her skull.

* * *

**38) Should Emily live?**

**Thanks to Breeze who let me know I kept misspelling Hydra. Believe it or not I did know how to spell it... Yet my fingers wouldn't listen to me. Anyway! If I do make small mistakes like that please do let me know and thanks to everyone reading and reviewing!**


	20. Chapter 20

The sun was still up but it was casting an orange glow over everything now as the time grew later with every passing minute. They were in a desert like area with hardly any grass and no pathway between the two towns, it was probably a nice place to sunbathe and have a picnic with family on any other day and there was a road that was the only thing that connected the different towns together. It was on this very road that the two girls were settled, one of them lying in a puddle of her own blood, the other kneeling beside of her, holding her hand and using the other to push down on the open wound that had caught her somewhere between the chest and stomach. Not far from there, where the ocean started after just a small dip from land, the hydra was walking further into the water, focussed on something invisible over the horizon, walking until it was neck deep and then until it was completely under and hidden from view. For a moment she could still see it moving under the water but then she couldn't see anything but the gentle waves lapping against the side.

Dekka watched the hydra disappear finally before she turned back to Emily, pushing hardly on the wound and hoping to close it up while her other hand continued to squeeze her fingers. It helped to have her power back. Their power was stronger and she was increasing gravity rather than lifting it, making it harder for the blood to pool out of her body. She wanted to help but there was nothing else to do apart from slow it down. She couldn't heal people like Lana could and she wasn't a doctor or a nurse. She couldn't even get Emily to a doctor in time considering how much she was bleeding and what excuse she would have to give to a hole in her stomach... She needed a nurse... She needed a doctor... She needed someone who could be trusted but with some form of medical knowledge. No, Dekka would have been happy with someone they couldn't trust as long as they waved Emily.

"Nurse! Nurse Temple!" Dekka gasped, leaning down to see Emily flutter her eyelids open at the sound of her voice. "Emily? Emily can you use your powers just once more? I need you to take us both to someone. Nurse Connie Temple is in Perdido Beach and she can help you."

Emily mumbled something, blinking up at her in confusion before her eyes began to roll back into her head once more. She had been fading in and out of conscious and Dekka had no idea when she would fade completely.

"No! Emily! Stay awake!" Dekka snapped, pushing harder on her wound in an attempt to give some pain that would help her stay concious.

Emily blinked and tried to focus but she couldn't. She couldn't do anything. Her breath hurt and she wanted to hold her breath but that hurt even more. Her body was cold, her lips were so numb they barely moved and when they did they slurred so much nothing she said made any sense. Even her tongue was heavy and numb, blood in her mouth that made her feel like it was full and her mind was full of things she wished she could have done.

She was still a virgin... No, Emily wanted to meet someone and have amazing sex everyone always talked about before she died.

She hadn't fixed her relationship with her brother... Emily and Brother always fought and he seemed to hate her more during the FAYZ and she didn't care before but now she was dying it seemed to click that she was going to die with him hating her!

She hadn't apologised to her parents... Their relationship was just as rocky since the FAYZ but Emily had been more snooty to them than anyone in the past few days.

She hadn't gotten in touch with Rebecca... They had been best friends when they were younger but had slowly drifted apart when Emily was home schooled. They always promised to get back in touch but never did.

She hadn't travelled... Emily wanted to go to Africa more than anywhere, she wanted to go there and meet the people and the animals, see the sights and places.

She wanted a tattoo... Since she was little, Emily wanted a tattoo of an eagle on her back, one of those sexy tattoos you saw on movie stars when they stripped.

She wanted to be a photographer... Emily wanted to travel all over the world and take professional pictures of the amazing monuments at different places that would be printed in magazines.

There were so many things that Emily had wanted to do and now she wasn't going to get the chance because she was going to die here in the dirt in the middle of nowhere. Dekka was kneeling beside her, talking fast and quickly but Emily couldn't make out what she was trying to say.

"Emily!" Dekka snapped.

"Wuh..." Emily managed to mumble, she tasted blood in her mouth. Or at least she thought she tasted blood. Maybe it was her imagination.

Dekka's words were finally getting through when Emily forced herself to focus and she could speak properly if she put all her energy into it.

"Take us to Connie Temple!" Dekka snapped loudly in her ear. "Can you do that?" She spoke slowly and clearly. "Can. You. Take us. To Connie. Temple!"

Emily blinked and tried to stay awake but the darkness was clouding her vision. She heard her saying a woman's name. Did Dekka want Emily to go there? Could she even try when she was dying? It was worth a shot. Maybe she would be able to do one last thing before she died.

Emily wanted to shut her eyes to concentrate but when she did Dekka nudged her and demanded she stay awake. And Emily wasn't sure she would be able to open them again if they did close. So she stared up at the plain sky and tried to focus on the name instead, picturing it in front of her and saying it over and over in her mind. It was clear in her mind but it was hard to hold onto. Her mind kept drifting to the list of things she had not yet achieved. But she forced herself to pay attention on the name and directed her powers through the hand that Dekka was clinging on to.

And then the hard, hot, dirty ground became a warm soft blanket under her body, a cream coloured carpet in a small house with pictures and sensible furniture surrounding them. It was small but comfortable looking and nice and cool compared to the hot land outside. For a moment there was pure silence as they both lay there, panting and gasping, realising her powers had somehow worked.

Then they heard a shriek and looked up at the doorway not a foot away from Emily's limp foot.

"Miss Temple?" Dekka said slowly to the woman standing over them with wide open eyes and a mouth hanging open. "Please... Can you save her?"

**G*O*N*E**

Caine and Diana were the first ones back. They hadn't caught anything; they hadn't seen anything and neither of them seemed to care very much either way. Roger and Quinn greeted them quickly before they went back to what they were doing. Now that the list was done, Roger came up with the idea of calling those with powers and warning them about the threat and telling them if they helped there was a chance to get their powers back. So far, out of the long list they had created, only two mutants were now searching for their powers. Jill had convinced her brother to search with her after a long time of begging and a boy who could make himself glow in the dark who was now afraid of the dark wanted to get his powers back. They were searching their home towns and towns near them, Jill and her brother still lived in Perdido Beach while the boy had moved to Miami after the incident.

"We'll leave you to work." Diana mumbled as soon as their backs were turned, struggling over the mattresses still lay out on the floor. As soon as she was in the kitchen she grabbed two glasses of water and two bags of cheese and onion crisps before she struggled back over and joined Caine in the bedroom.

"That was hard work." Caine said sarcastically. "We didn't find anything. And we might have if you didn't keep holding me back."

"Do you want to end up in prison? In God knows what kind of laboratory?" Diana demanded.

Caine knew where this was going and decided to end the argument quickly before it begun. With a wave of his hand the drinks and crisps were taken from her hands and placed gently on the side counter. Then a second wave and Diana yelped as she was pulled forward to the bed until she was practically lying on top of him and Caine could lean up and kiss her.

Diana hesitated before pushing away from him. "You. Are. Injured!"

"I'm also very excited." Caine smirked. "Look, we don't know what's going to happen. We don't know how this is going to lay out. So... Let's take advantage of the time we have."

"Why are you talking like that?" Diana whispered. "Did you have another dream?"

"No." Caine lied smoothly. "I just don't want anything to happen without getting what I want like old times. I miss being in charge and getting what I want, when I want."

Diana wasn't sure whether or not to believe him. He was too good a liar and she had so many reasons to doubt him. But at the same time she almost agreed. What if one of them were to die tomorrow? Caine had died already, she didn't want to lose him again and she wanted to show him just how much she wanted him around. And Caine was right. In the end, no matter what it was, he always got what he wanted.

An invisible pressure forced Diana down until they were kissing again. He was so impatient. This time she allowed herself the smallest moment of relaxing before her arms found their way around his neck and his hands rested on the back of her hips. She barely reacted when her clothes were being slipped off by Caine's power. But she did pause to tie her hair up out of the way and help Caine undress to make it more romantic.

They made love with Quinn and Roger in the next room, neither caring if they were heard, though they did keep the sound down just a little. It was almost like their first time. It hurt Diana at first, and it actually hurt Caine because sex wasn't easy with his ribs so badly damaged, but it didn't stop either of them from continuing long after the time when everyone else was supposed to come back came and went.

When they were done it was late. The sun was starting to really set, leaving a darker and darker sky and Diana assumed the others had come home while they were distracted. She lay next to him in the bed, her head on the pillow and her body stretched out so the covers covered her body but allowed her legs and arms to breathe the cold air around the room. Her hair had mostly come out and even now her body still felt a rush of excitement and shivers. Beside of her, Caine was lying, a mixture of aching and satisfaction on his face. He rolled onto his side, wincing slightly, before leaning over and kissing Diana hard on the mouth.

She pushed him away just as his hands began to wander once more. "Once is enough for you."

"For now." Caine smirked and lay back down, stretching his sore limbs over his head.

"I'm going to get a hot drink." Diana said.

She climbed from the bed, letting the covers fall down off her body. She knew Caine was watching her and so as not to tease him anymore, quickly pulled on her silk robe, tying it around her body and heading for the door.

"Do you want anything?" Diana asked, looking back at him. Caine raised an eyebrow and she smirked. "To drink."

"No." Caine said with another smirk and shut his eyes, no doubt remember what had just happened.

Diana rolled her eyes and left the room, making sure to shut the door behind her. She ignored Quinn and Roger and went to the kitchen area. After a glance she saw the blush on Quinn's face and knew they had heard them. It was also probably why Roger was doing his best not to look at them. Diana suddenly had the urge to make them more uncomfortable. Why not have some fun?

"Are you still a virgin, Quinn?" Diana asked.

"What?" Quinn blinked, blushing again.

"I mean, Roger clearly can't be. Not with the way him and Edilio cuddle at night." Diana grinned when Roger froze and his ears turned red. "But what about you?"

Quinn, after another moment, finally realised she was messing with him and angrily turned back to the list in front of him.

Diana laughed loudly and headed over the made up beds once more and towards her bedroom with a hot tea in hand. She paused at the knock on the front door and casually swung it open, expecting Dekka or Emily to be returning with a mutated animal but instead found Ripley leaning against the door and smirking. As soon as the door was open he casually slid her foot in the way of the door to keep her from closing it again.

"Why, hello, Princess." Ripley said. "I have a warrant to search your house." He held out the piece of paper.

**G*O*N*E**

The streets were by far empty. There were at least half a dozen people that were walking, running or standing around and talking to friends or family when Sam, Edilio and Kevin all ran down the street as fast as their legs would carry them. None of them wanted to take Gaia down to where innocent people would be waiting but they had no other choice. They couldn't turn around with her following them and there was a limited supply of places where they could run. So instead they had to settle for shouting and screaming at those around them to run before they finally did as told when they saw Gaia for themselves. A few people froze, so shocked they didn't move but Gaia quickly picked them up and threw them, or burned some part of their body and that got everyone else running along with them.

The run was tiring but adrenaline kept them going, especially when others died around them. Sam made sure to be behind Kevin and Edilio, as well as the many innocent people that were charging ahead, screaming in fear, but it wouldn't make much of a difference. He didn't have any powers to save himself or them in front or the people around them. He needed his powers, or some kind of a weapon. How could he have been stupid enough to leave it at home, today of all days when he was hunting dangerous animals? Maybe Edilio or Kevin remembered to pack something.

"EDILIO!" Sam gasped, his sides straining from the effort and it was hard to talk when all his breath was being used to keep running. "Weapon!"

"In... My... Bag..." Edilio struggled to swing the bag over his shoulder and dig into it while keeping us speed. He had just unzipped the bag when his foot hit Toto's bird cage and he was thrown forward onto the ground in the road just as a car was heading straight towards of him. The drivers eyes were on Gaia bird and he wasn't even going to try and stop to avoid Edilio.

Toto's cage lay on the ground on its side, a black puddle surrounded it. Someone must have knocked it over at some point or looked in at it and he died from the strangers around him while they were still watching the Gaia fairy in the shop.

Sam didn't have time to worry over the real Toto, whether or not he was now like Sinder or maybe worse. All he had time to worry about was Edilio. Sam scrambled over to the road, grabbing Edilio just as he was climbing back onto his feet and dragging him out of the way just in time, his heel feeling the car shoot by his side. They landed in a heap on the side and Sam snatched for the now open bag. Hair bands, belts and a small amount of rope had already fallen out but somehow the large table leg was still safely inside.

Sam snatched the leg and swung it in front of him but the Gaia fairy was already heading in the opposite direction, back down the street and after the still running Kevin.

Sam swore and climbed to his feet, darting across the road after them. Edilio stumbled behind him but was stalled when he was nearly hit by another car on his way. Soon they were running in a line, one after another. Kevin taking the lead as he forced his legs to move faster than he had in the FAYZ, followed by Gaia flying the whole way with eyes on Kevin and hands stretched forward like she was a real baby and Kevin was her new toy she wanted to shake above her head. Behind her, Sam was waving his leg in front of him and trying to shout while running to get her attention away from Kevin. And behind Sam, Edilio was hurrying to catch up, gasping as he dragged the bag along behind of him.

"Gaia!" Sam gasped. His voice was small from pure exhaustion. "Hey! You! Look!"

But she ignored him, intent on only catching Kevin. She flashed forward, suddenly fast and grabbed Kevin's arm. He shouted in shock and somehow twisted and kicked her away from him, falling forward and running until he was sure his heart was going to burst from his chest along with his lungs. He tripped over his own two feet and fell forward onto his stomach. He scrambled back up, forcing his body to crawl as he struggled to get back onto his feet again.

Gaia grabbed his ankles before he was fully up and pulled him into the air with her, seconds before Sam was in swinging range. He tried to hit her feet, either distract her, or hurt her, or even just make her lose her balance so she would let Kevin go. Instead Kevin dangled in her grip, screaming and shouting now as he struggled in her grip to break himself free but she held him at such an angle where his feet couldn't reach her.

"Let him go you son of a bitch!" Sam snapped, waving the table leg.

Edilio ran up to his side. He had zipped the bag up again and was now using the bag itself as a weapon, swinging it by the handle and getting dangerously close to Gaia Fairy so that she could see him.

"Edilio! Stand back!" Sam snapped.

Too late. Gaia waved her hand and threw Edilio so far back with a power like Caine's that Sam couldn't see him anymore in the distance. He hoped he hadn't broken anything but he had no time to check. Gaia was turning Kevin around and holding his shoulders in her hands, she stared at him as he struggled in her grip. Her eyes began to shine and Kevin's eyes began to burn inside his socket. He shrieked so loudly. His voice, the way he was squirming. Suddenly Sam got an image of E.Z. being eaten alive by the Zekes and Sam was helpless to help him. Then, as if things couldn't be anymore horrifying, Gaia lifted her hand and touched Kevin's shoulder, a light very much like Sam's was burning through, cutting his arm cleanly off while his eyes continued to melt.

Sam ran until he was directly under Gaia, no longer caring about his own safety. Kevin's screams made him deaf to everything else around him and he drove the leg directly up, hitting Gaia hard on the bottom and knocking her off balance. She dropped Kevin into a screaming, sobbing pile on the ground, bleeding heavily from his eyes and his arm.

Gaia turned to him, raised a hand but Sam threw the leg and it hit her in the jaw, knocking her backwards and spinning her at the same time. He grabbed Kevin by his good arm, the other was hanging on by a thread of skin, and dragged him down the street while Gaia spun in the air, pushing him roughly behind a garden hedge and pulling him out of view of the Gaia Fairy that had slowly pulled herself to a stop. She glanced around but for some reason didn't search for them, even with Kevin obviously screaming in pain she turned and began to fly into the air until she was gone from sight looking for her next victim

* * *

**38) Should Kevin live?**

**I'm still not sure whether or not Emily is going to make it. Neither am I sure with Kevin... Help me make up my mind! :D**

**Oh and I'm glad so many of you think I did a good job with Emily. **


	21. Chapter 21

"You cannot come in here." Diana snarled, already trying to close to the door on him but he easily pushed it open with one hand.

Ripley stepped into the room, glanced over where Edilio and Roger were now standing looking tense and nervous. Good. Then he glanced back at Diana, letting his eyes leer over her and his smirk hold for a moment of silence while she huffed and puffed in anger at him forcing his way in.

"You might want to tighten that robe." Ripley said, pushing the warrant into Roger's hands as he approached before he began to walk around the room.

Diana blushed furiously and retied her robe where it had come lose, covering her body again. She began to follow him as he wandered. Her heart beat in her ears and she didn't know what she was supposed to do to stop him. She looked at Roger who was carefully reading the paper in front of him while Quinn moved and stood in front of Sam's bedroom door, trying to make it look suspicious so when he went in there they might be able to sneak Caine out the front before he came out again.

But instead Ripley moved through the main room and the kitchen, opening draws, moving furniture from the walls, even looking under the blankets, sheets, pillows and mattresses laid out on the floor. He wandered around the room slowly before his eyes landed on Diana's room in the far corner and he walked over.

Diana stepped in his way. She knew this was making them look guilty but she had no other choice. It was either this or just let him walk in and see for himself.

"Ripley! Get out of this house!" Diana shouted, trying to alert Caine to hide. "You are not entering my room!"

"I have a warrant." Ripley sneered.

"It's fake!" Roger accused. He didn't know but they needed to stall some time. "You cannot continue searching until we go to someone who can verify this is real."

Ripley sneered again at them both and pushed both Roger and Diana away and walked towards of her bedroom door.

Diana didn't know what to do. She felt light headed as she tried to think. Quinn was already moving like he might tackle Ripley but even that wouldn't do them much good. Caine was going to get caught and they would go to jail and Caine would be thrown away somewhere so much more horrible. And there was nothing she could do to stop him!

"Don't go into my room! It's a violation!" Diana snapped, tears blurring her vision.

Ripley ignored her and reached the door. He was pulling it open when Quinn threw himself in the way and pushed him away from the door, leaning against the wooden frame and gasping. He stretched his arms and legs like a star, refusing to allow Ripley entrance.

None of them cared about being suspicious anymore. They had given up trying to act casual. Now they just needed to get this guy away long enough to get Caine out of here. Even if they went to prison for some time, they couldn't be held for long. At least not as long as Caine could obviously be held if he was caught.

"Move..." Ripley said, suddenly looking dangerous.

"No!" Quinn snapped. "Prove the warrant is real and you can search this place all you want! Otherwise get out!"

Ripley scowled down at him. He seemed to actually be losing his temple now. He glanced around and saw Roger was standing the other side, moving back towards the door and Diana was glaring at him from behind. They all had a moment to wonder if he was going to attack one of them. Finally he smirked again, regaining his cool and the dangerous look left his eyes.

"Don't play this shit with me." Ripley sneered.

"What shit?" Quinn blinked.

"I saw him." Ripley laughed. "And as soon as I have proof that he is here, you will all be going away unless you hand him over, then maybe we can spare you at least a life sentence."

Diana's blood ran cold and she knew who he was talking about but refused to say anything. But already he face gave it away when her eyes widened and her lips tightened together. Ripley smirked, staring at her before he looked at the boys but they had blank expressions no idea what he was trying to say.

"Give him now... Or I take him and you all down to the station." Ripley warned.

"I don't know what you're talking about." Diana whispered, a quiver in her voice.

"Wrong move."

Ripley threw Quinn. He literally stepped forward, grabbing Quinn around the scruff of the neck and the arm and throwing him as hard as he could at Roger. They both hit the ground and were too confused to get back on their feet, bodies aching where they had been hit. Diana screamed and ran but he was already throwing the door open and stepping inside. He looked around but Caine wasn't lying on the bed, though the blanket looked like it had definitely been used seconds before he entered the room.

Diana dashed in after him but he pushed her violently away so she fell to the floor and looked behind the door, glancing under the bed and then dragging draws out as if he had somehow squeezed himself in with her clothes. Her room was a mess before the end and Ripley looked up, glaring at her like it was her fault he was gone.

"Where is he?!" Ripley shouted.

"Who?" Diana gasped, out of breath from running and choosing to play along.

"Caine Soren! Where is he, you little-" Ripley swore nastily and moved like he was going to back hand her.

"Don't touch her!" Roger cried at the exact same time when Ripley's leg was knocked out from under him by an invisible hand and he fell face down hard on the ground.

He moaned, climbing onto his hands and knees and back onto his feet, wincing at the pain of his now bleeding nose. He glared up at Diana, who was backed against the wall in terror and Roger who had run out protectively in front of her, both looking quite confused as to why he had just suddenly fallen. Quinn was nowhere at first but then appeared in the doorway a few seconds later, phone in hand, sticking it out and pointing it at Ripley.

"This is the police." Quinn snarled. "You leave or I call them saying you're attacking us with excess force. It might not do much but it will definitely piss a lot of your superiors off if you come up with complaints too many times."

Ripley hesitated with a horrible look in his eyes again. Diana felt tears filling her eyes and flooding as she whimpered, terrified that Ripley was actually going to attack Quinn. But then she glanced up above her head and relaxed. He wouldn't get the chance. Just as she was sure he was going to attack, the fight died from his eyes, he wiped his face clean of blood, straightened his clothes and smiled at Diana like they had been having a good joke just moments before.

"I suppose that's my call to leave." Ripley chuckled. "But I will be back. I have all your names, and I will find Caine Soren. When I do, you are all going down with him."

The three of them stood, tense and worried as they watched him leave the room. He slammed the door behind him and that was the only sign that he was at all frustrated with them. As soon as the door slammed Quinn rushed to the window and they held still until he gave them the clear, Ripley was walking away from the building. Or sneaking away, he glanced in every bin, alley, bush and tree that he passed as he walked away from their home. Quinn glared at him before he turned around and took a breath.

"Now where the hell has Caine gone?" Quinn snapped towards Diana.

Diana sniffed and looked up at the ceiling. Quinn followed her gaze and Caine was there, one hand pointed down as he pressed himself against the ceiling, the other was holding his clothes to his body and barely covering himself. There was a smirk on his face as he hovered there.

"Who do you think tripped the bastard when he went to hurt Diana?" Caine laughed. "Now would you mind leaving so I can lower myself and get dressed? Or would you like to see my body too?"

Diana laughed, tears streaming down her cheeks. She had been so scared and now she was still scared. Ripley knew... He wasn't going to stop... He knew... But for now they were safe. For now they had beaten him and for now Caine was still with them.

**G*O*N*E**

Dekka was standing in the corner, trying to stay out the way but close in case she was needed for anything while Connie knelt down over Emily. They had carried her into Connie's bedroom and laid her down in Connie's bed, stripping her down to her underwear and looking at the wound. It didn't seem too bad but it was still bleeding heavily around her. Connie had an emergency medical kit in the kitchen and after a few moments of gawping at the two of them, she had grabbed it before helping get Emily on top of her bed. She was obviously in shock but the nurse side of her had taken over and now she was nothing but professional.

"Will she live?" Dekka asked as soon as they set her down on the bed.

Connie didn't answer and Dekka felt her chest tighten as to watched her moping up the worst of the blood, barely reacting when he sheets were stained. It was like watching Brianna all over again. Or maybe the kids in the fire instead. She liked Emily but she wasn't as close as the others.

Yet it still hurt to see Emily bleeding like that, eyes rolling over the place as she looked at the room but didn't focus and occasionally slid shut just to open sharply moments later. Her breath was rough and slow, raspy like she needed to cough but just didn't have the energy to do it. Her body was pale, shivering, and small and there were tears slowly streaming down but she didn't seem to realise she was crying and stared at something hanging over her... Was she staring at death?

"Will she live?!" Dekka shouted, suddenly feeling panic hit hard.

Connie finally looked up from what she was doing. Dekka was hot in the face and shivering. This was just too real all of a sudden. Before people had seemed to have been hurt but it was no one that Dekka knew or had actually met and even though these creatures were obviously dangerous they just didn't seem so until someone was hurt. And now someone was hurt. Not even seeing the monstrous Drake/Brittney Hydra had made it real. Now it was all too real. It was the FAYZ. It was a never ending FAYZ running around that would torture them until the day they died.

Then Connie was walking over, throwing a blanket over Dekka and forcing her down so she was sitting on the floor before she returned to Emily's side. She didn't say anything but immediately Dekka stayed where she was, curling under the blanket and staring at the two of them.

Connie did a lot of things; it was hard for Dekka to keep track of her while she worked. She did watch Connie cleaning around her wound, and then she applied pressed. She added something else, maybe some disinfectant but Dekka couldn't be sure. Then she was covering the wound and wrapping it tightly in place. Finally she tucked a pillow under her head, tucked her under the covers and stood up.

"Will she live?" Dekka asked for a final time, surprised by how empty and hollow her voice sounded.

"Maybe." Connie answered. "I need to get her some blood; she's lost a lot of it and that could be dangerous for her."

"Will she live without the blood?" Dekka stressed.

Connie looked over at Dekka and stared at her in silence for a moment before she looked back at Emily, seeming to think it over for a minute.

"We can't go to the hospital." Dekka explained.

"Is this something to do with the anomaly?" Connie asked.

"Sort of." Dekka admitted.

Connie hesitated like she wanted to say something but was reluctant. Dekka was sure she had a pretty good guess as to what it was.

"Sam is apart of it." Dekka said.

Connie nodded, looking suddenly sad. Dekka felt awkward, she didn't want to get involved in any of this but Connie had just saved Emily's life.

"I could probably take care of Emily if I got a hold of some blood. But I'd need to find out what her type was and I'd need a way to get it into her body..." Connie said slowly. She was unsure but maybe she could do it.

"Anything you need I'll get it!" Dekka announced, standing and dropping the blanket onto the floor behind of her.

Connie looked at her and nodded. "Okay. First, we need to find out what her blood type is. Do you know that?"

"No. But... I know where her family lives, maybe they know." Dekka said, remembering the farm house just up the hill.

"Okay, find out. Then next, I need something to get the blood into her. We can't get a drip but we could probably find a needle somewhere, it would take longer but it will do. I could get a hold of the blood." Connie said, standing.

Dekka nodded. She glanced at Emily, mumbling and shivering on the bed as she began to have dreams that would probably end as nightmares. After she got Connie the things she needed to save Emily's life, she would call the others and tell them what happened, including the Hydra. But first she had to save Emily's life. No one else was going to die.

**G*O*N*E**

The bleeding was horrible, it came from his arm in a hot stream and his eyes were bleeding too, though they were more dibbling as the black charcoal that were his eyeballs sat and stared up at nothing. He was screaming loudly, hurting Sam's ears as he struggled to strip off his jacket and wrap it around Kevin's body so that he could stop the bleeding of his arm. He gave up and tried to tie it around his arm, holding his arm in place to keep it from falling off and maybe they could keep it attached when he healed. It was badly done, the blood still bleeding out but some of it was being soaked up. Then he turned and pulled off his shirt, trying to fold it so he could wrap it around his eyes like a blindfold.

By the time he had finished, Kevin had stopped screaming and fighting but now it was becoming more of a crying and he lay in Sam's arms, sobbing and begging for the pain to stop. Finally Edilio had somehow gotten back to them from where he had been thrown down the road, limping but otherwise unharmed. When he finally caught up he froze at the sight of Kevin sobbing as Sam tried to tell him that it would be okay, that he would be okay.

"What happened?" Edilio gasped.

"Gaia... She... She..." Sam was unable to come up with the words and just held Kevin closer like he was hugging him, trying to protect him.

"We need to get him to a hospital!" Edilio gasped.

Sam nodded, trying to stop the shaking as he and Edilio picked Kevin up. It was awkward and a struggle, eventually they draped him over Sam and he carried him piggy back style, holding his legs and moving slowly down the street while Edilio followed behind, keeping him upright and trying to make sure he wasn't bleeding out again but it all seemed useless.

They struggled along, it was slow because Kevin was heavy on his own and now he was even heavier, limp over Sam's body as he hurried as fast as he could. The worst was that with every step he took, Kevin moved and more blood seemed to be soaking through his jacket and top, bleeding over Sam and on the concrete bellow.

The streets were busy and full of people on a busy day. Nearly everyone one of them stared at them as they stumbled past and those that didn't only didn't because their backs were to them. The weird part was that no one came near them. They all watched from afar, no one moving to help and no one moving to say anything or even call for help. Sam watched as they moved around them, staring, whispering and doing nothing at all to help. Sam was sick that no one did anything. They just watched as he struggled to get through the streets, a few people actually smirked at them... Sam actually missed the FAYZ where kids would run to help him as soon as he told them to rather than watching with smirks and judging faces.

Gaia was officially gone. She didn't came back at all as they struggled towards the nearest hospital. Sam tried not to feel too relieved considering she was probably terrorizing someone else now but it was hard not to be selfish. He also tried not to think of how they were supposed to beat her. If Sam were to guess he would say this was the baby Gaia and not the Gaiaphage infected Gaia. But then what kind of fear was a baby going to have when she was alive for barely a few seconds before she had been taken over by the darkness.

Kevin sobbed into his shoulder. His good hand gripped him and he shivered uncontrollably against Sam's back.

No. This wasn't the time to worry about Gaia, she was gone now. Kevin was still here, dying in his arms. He couldn't do anything about Gaia at the moment but maybe there was still a chance for him to save Kevin.

Edilio stumbled to keep up as they both hurried, which was hard since his leg had been badly banged up from where Gaia had thrown him backwards. He struggled to hold up Kevin's arm but when Sam's top slipped down he reeled back for a moment to see how badly it had been cut off and how badly it was bleeding. Edilio swallowed hard. It wasn't just that it was bleeding; it was how little it was bleeding because the arm was almost burned off and so a lot of the main arteries were sealed off. It looked horrible and a few people seemed to notice, so Edilio rushed forward to right Sam's jacket and cover the wound.

"Sam... I don't wanna die..." Kevin sobbed.

"You're not going to!" Sam snapped, struggling as his leg muscles strained.

"My... My family... I want to see my family before I die." Kevin cried.

"You're not going to die!" Sam shouted. A few more people passing on the other end of the street did a double take. "You're going to see your family again! I promise you! I promise you, Kevin!"

Kevin cried, weakly. It was hard to tell whether he was crying for pain or fear of death now. Sam clung to him and Edilio placed a gentle hand on his back, rubbing it but unable to say anything. Neither of them could stand seeing someone else die and Edilio certainly could not stand to see one of his soldiers die after fighting so hard.

"Sam..." Edilio mumbled. "We're not going to make it..."

"Shut up!" Sam snapped and pushed harder.

"Sam, we might still save him if we can get him somewhere quiet. We could do something to save him but if we keep running to the hospital..." Edilio paused. "Damn! We're idiots! We should just call an ambulance!"

Sam paused and swore loudly stopping a woman and her husband to stare at him. He ignored them and rushed towards the nearest building.

How could he have been so stupid? Why did none of them think to call an ambulance? There was no excuse. Because of their ignorance Kevin might now die! Because they had been too stupid to stop and think. If Kevin died then Sam was never going to forgive himself.

It was a dark apartment building that was quite run down with a large entrance room that looked extremely old from the inside. If anyone was still living there then they had to be homeless. Sam hurried to the nearest corner and set Kevin down before he pulled out his phone and called the ambulance.

"Watch him!" Sam snapped at Edilio and ran outside to make the call.

Edilio hurried to Kevin's side, tightening the bandages around his wounds and pulling his head up onto his lap.

"Edilio..." Kevin sobbed. "Tell my mum and dad I love them. Tell my family I miss them and I'm sorry for everything I did."

"It's going to be okay, Kevin." Edilio insisted. "You're going to make it. You're going to live."

"Tell my family. Okay? Promise me, Edilio. Tell my family." Kevin paused and sobbed. "I don't want to die!"

"I will but you're not going to die. We'll tell them together!" Edilio said, squeezing his hand. "We'll go down to your home, we'll meet your family and we'll tell them together if you just hold on."

Kevin cried. He sobbed and clung to his hand, as the pain dug in. It was horrible but the worst was the fear of knowing he was going to die. Should he pray? Should he ask for forgiveness? Kevin was an atheist but suddenly he feared meeting God and never asking for forgiveness for all his sins. What if God was real and now Kevin was going to hell?

"I don't want to go to hell." Kevin cried.

"You won't! You're a good guy, Kevin. You're not even going to die!" Edilio gasped as Sam came running back in and falling to his knees beside of them.

"I haven't repented." Kevin sobbed. "You can't get into heaven without repenting."

"You're not going to die! And even if you were, God loves everyone! He would let you in! You're a good person!" Edilio stressed, looking at Sam.

"The ambulance will be here soon." Sam promised.

"Not soon enough." Kevin cried.

"Soon enough, Kevin." Sam insisted.

A bark came from behind and they all looked up. Their surprise came when they saw the Sammy Sun sitting in the middle of the room, lighting it all up around them. It was exactly the same as their old Sammy Sun's that Sam gave out to children in their homes after the light had all gone out. But Sam obviously didn't make this light and the thing that did was standing beside of it on all fours. It was a dog, a German Sheppard.

"Is that..." Edilio said slowly.

"I think it is..." Sam said.

"Your animal. But that means it's going to attack." Edilio mumbled.

"Hold perfectly still." Sam whispered. "Do not move. Kevin, I know this is hard but you have to stop crying as best as you can."

Kevin whimpered but he wasn't sobbing out loud anymore. They all stayed perfectly still, or as still as they could while the dog watched them, moving around and growling but he didn't attack. He just watched them with dark eyes.

"Sam... What is your biggest fear?" Edilio whispered.

"Um... Whipping... Darkness... Letting someone else die..." Sam whispered, trying to think what scared him more. "No. Darkness. The darkness terrifies me even when I think I have gotten over it."

"Great. We have to make darkness for a creature that can create light." Edilio growled.

"There has to be a way." Sam argued.

"How?"

"Edilio..." Kevin sobbed.

"Shh, it'll be okay, Kevin." Edilio promised.

The dog barked suddenly and jumped. It ran straight at them with its teeth snapping. Sam glanced where Kevin was unable to move and where the dog was heading for, he made a split decision and was jumping in the way before he could argue with himself. It hurt when the dog's teeth slammed down on his hand but he had protected Edilio and Kevin. The dog dragged him away and threw him down to the ground, stepping backwards and opening his mouth wide. His arm hurt and there was a bit of blood but the dogs grip wasn't tight enough to actually hurt or tear him.

Sam saw the light building in the back of his throat as he opened wide. He dodged and the light blast out straight at the spot where he had recently been.

Sam scrambled to get back onto his feet as the dog moved around, watching him closely. It lowered down and growled, taking a slow step towards of him, planning his next attack. That was more frightening than anything else. This dog was smart, planning how he was going to catch and kill Sam and then the others. Kevin had given up trying not to cry anymore, now he was just sobbing openly while Edilio waited by his side, praying the ambulance made it in time and that Sam defeat his animal side.

The dog charged again and Sam jumped to the side just in time once more. He wasn't sure how much longer he would be able to keep this up. The dog was faster than him, a deadly power and had all the animal senses it needed to be a killing machine. How was he supposed to make it all dark?

Wait... The dog's power was coming from its mouth just like Lizzie Lizards power came from her mouth!

"Edilio!" Sam shouted. "Get me a belt!"

Edilio hesitated, and then understood what he meant. He quickly let go of Edilio and emptied the half open bag onto his lap, shuffling through the things before he found a brown leather belt. Sam hurried over back to them and snatched it up, and then running away again as the dog followed him. It seemed the chase was exciting the animal, which was the only reason why it hadn't given up and just tore Kevin and Edilio apart instead. That was good. That was the only thing keeping them alive.

Now how was he going to get it around the dog's mouth? Sam glanced back and shouted, dropping to the ground just as a laser shot of light hit the wall above his head. Sam rolled and jumped straight at the dog as soon as the light stopped. The dog didn't expect this and barked, taking a step back as Sam hit it hard and they both tumbled to the ground.

"SAM!" Edilio shouted. He clung to Kevin and looked down at him.

"Thanks for teaching me stuff... Edilio..." Kevin smiled, still crying but weaker now. "You're really cool."

"NO!" Edilio shouted as Kevin's hand went limp in his own. "No! Kevin! No, don't!"

Sam ignored the shouting and found himself sitting on top of the dog as he tried to run and shake him free but even with the power of light this dog was just a dog and didn't have any super strength to help him support Sam's weight. He struggled and Sam brought the leather belt around and wrapping it around the dog's mouth like a muzzle. It wasn't easy to tighten but eventually the dog's legs gave up and he collapsed on the ground, growling and whining as it tried to roll free of Sam.

Sam tightened the belt around his mouth, pushing himself back onto his feet and taking slow breaths before he spun and ran towards the door. The doors were old, broken and creaking like they might fall off at any moment. Sam was worried about that and hesitated as he slowly pushed them closed.

Darkness.

There were no windows for this part of the building and most of those further up were either covered in wood or had the curtains drawn or were just too high up to give any real light all the way down where they were. It wasn't pitch-black but it was dark enough for Sam to feel his stomach tighten and he heard the dog's whining grow louder. There was a scramble and he saw the dogs shape struggling to free himself and pull his face free to make a light to fight away from the darkness.

Sam looked over and saw where Edilio and Kevin were still lying. He sighed and stumbled over towards them, leaving his dog to die on its own.

"How is he?" Sam asked.

Edilio didn't say anything. Sam frowned and listened but the dog was silent now, it must have died. He held out a hand above his head and waited, in a few seconds a Sammy Sun appeared above them all and Sam saw Kevin, lying perfectly still on the ground. His body was paler than ever before and the blood flow had finally stopped. When Sam reached over, feeling sick, he felt that Kevin was ice cold and hard.

"No..." Sam croaked. "No! No! No!" He pulled Kevin away from Edilio who was staring at his bloodied hands and began to push down on Kevin's chest over his heart. He knew it wouldn't work but he couldn't stop himself from trying. Three hard pushes and then he opened Kevin's mouth and breathed down his throat into his lungs. He repeated this for five whole minutes, counting every second that passed in his head.

Kevin didn't wake up.

"No." Sam gasped, his breath choking off. "No. No. Fucking no!"

His voice echoed around the room and Edilio took Kevin's hand gently, praying silently. He prayed that if God really was up there, he better let Kevin in.

**G*O*N*E**

The dove settled in the park somewhere in Spain and a few wandering children squealed when their saw her beautiful white feathers before their parents forced them to keep walking along the path on their way home. She lifted into the air and moved along the park until she found an elder man with his grandson settled off in the corner by the gates. The elder man was sleeping on the grass while his grandson was picking up ants from the concrete path and putting them in jars for his collection at home. As soon as the dove saw the elder man sleeping she lowered herself down and moved up beside of him with blinking black eyes.

Almost as soon as the dove focussed her eyes on the elder man he began to dream of her. She wasn't a dove in his dreams though, she was a young twelve or thirteen years old girl. She had brown hair pulled back in a pony tail, very skinny and almost fragile looking in plain shorts and a plain top. She walked into his dream and stared at him when suddenly, for an unknown reason he began to gasp and choke. His heart beat faster and he wasn't sure why but he was terrified. This girl, this random girl he had never seen before, was giving him a night terror and before he awoke, before his grandson realised what was wrong, he had a heart attack and died.

As soon as he died and his grandson noticed the dove lifted into the air and began to fly, leaving the boy to scream and cry while she searched for her next victim...

Meanwhile, in a small village deep in Korea, two children screamed as a monstrous lake monster crawled from the cave they had been exploring, a bat flying over them all and smirking as she watched the children try to run away before another monster appeared in front of them, this one was like the bogeyman from the old movies. The bat laughed and focussed on the children, forcing them to see, feel and hear as the thousands of Zekes jumped from the ground and began to eat them from the inside out. The two children screamed when their friend was replaced by an alien. They continued to shriek and scream as they grabbed weapons and rocks, beating one another to get the horrible monsters away. The bat laughed a strange young girly laugh as the boy eventually beat the girl to death, still believing she was the alien from the film "Alien Vs Predator" while the girl died believing Predator was going to eat her.

As soon as the boy saw what he done he collapsed and began screaming. His body shook and he rocked himself in the same way that Cigar had done. The bat laughed again and paused, wondering if she should get him to scratch his eyes out like Cigar as well but instead settled for his family finding the weeping and insane boy. She looked out the cave and saw a teenage boy helping his father build something with lots of wood and nails and hammers... The bat made her way over, excited to have the father beat his son to death before, upon realising what he did, killing him...

France was supposed to be a romantic place to stay. Instead an elderly woman was on the phone to the police and the hospital while encouraging her children to block the door while her grandchildren cowered over their grandfather. A coyote, a coyote! It broke into the home during a family dinner and growled at them. As soon as it growled something happened to her eldest son and he collapsed, blisters appearing on the back of his neck before the coyote jumped and began to eat. The rest of the family screamed and ran but he chased them. They just got inside the study when her husband's neck blistered and he also collapsed to the ground. She desperately called an ambulance and police as the coyote charged and banged at the door, finally it growled and the door almost began to cook. What was this creature?

Her daughter in law gathered the children and they all hurried to climb from the window. She went to follow when the door burst open and she felt a horrible hot feeling inside of her head. She saw her youngest son and his family screaming before she collapsed to the ground and they ran while she died. The coyote sneered and stepped forward, letting the family run while he ate his cooked dinner in the study. He had their scent. He would hunt them later. After all, he was a hunter...

Jill and her brother Derek screamed as they crawled away from the creature in the middle of the street. They had no idea who he was; they just knew he was a mutated animal like Sam and Astrid had promised would show up. He was a fox and when he growled strange sonic waves rocketed on the pavement around them, shaking the ground and them along with the rest of the street. Brick walls came apart and the pavement itself seemed as if someone was tearing it apart. Jill screamed and buried her face in Derek's chest. He hugged her and shut his own eyes. This was a mistake. They should have never done this.

They were sure the fox was going to kill them. It was making its way over and they were terrified when suddenly a voice, a beautiful familiar voice filled the air and Jill and Derek looked up. They felt calm but they were no longer in a zombie like trance as before when they heard this singing voice sound. But the fox had stopped. It had stopped sending shockwaves from its body and instead stood, transfixed as a creature made its way towards of him, singing in a beautiful human female voice.

It was a bird, a small slightly brown bird that Derek recognised as a Nightingale. It was very cute and hoped forward towards of the fox, singing as he stood, swaying and listening to her song.

"Derek!" Jill sobbed, tears streaming down her cheeks as she clung to her brother. "That's it! That's my power! We have to get her, Derek. Please, please let's get her and get out of here!"

He looked down at her large watering eyes. Then hugged her close. This final act would make up for abandoning her in the FAYZ when Zil sent her away.

"Okay, Jill. Let's catch her and hurry him." Derek nodded.

The siblings took a breath and ran towards the bird, still distracted by singing to the strange mutated fox.

* * *

**39) Can you name who the Dove, Bat, Coyote and Fox all are?**

**Just wanted to let you know these animals are not going to play a big part I just wanted to add them to show they're all around the world. Sadly a few animals/moofs aren't going to be in the story because I just don't have time but if you have a favourite mutant then I could add them in a small section like this. I have all animals planned so feel free to say you're favourite freak character. **


	22. Chapter 22

"There, done and dusted." Astrid said.

She pulled off the cat mask from her face, that she had brought from a party shop not far from the pet shop. It was simple and was much cheaper than she expected it to be. It wasn't very scary to begin with but it was all they had to work with, and after she brought it Astrid took Sam's advice and covered it in mud and leaves and twigs to make it as ugly and monster like as possible to scare the Lizzie Lizard. And it seemed to have worked.

"More like done and melted." Quinn grinned, grabbing the box and taking it towards the sink so he could wash her black remains down the drain, though it still seemed to stain the plastic.

"So how did you figure out the lizard was afraid of monsters?" Roger asked.

"Sam figured it out."

After Astrid had gotten home she had immediately spoken with the others and found out about Ripley's little visit. She had listened to them in silence until they were done but then quickly killed off the Lizzie Lizard before she got distracted any more and before the creature could get away from them. She didn't want to risk getting so caught up that the creature got free and burned down their apartments before they were able to kill her.

It had been weird wearing the mask but it didn't take her long to guess what it was Sam was talking about when he wanted her to get the mask and make it look scary, and she had been almost embarrassed, especially when she had to growl and groan but soon the creature was melt into black liquid ash right in front of her eyes. The others seemed to have enjoyed it, laughing and making animal monster noises along with her though that was mostly teasing rather than helping.

Now it was just them, no more animals in their apartment apart from when Sam brought Toto back. They had no idea where Kevin or Edilio were since they were closest to home. And Sam should have been back by now unless Toto was weighing him down and people kept stopping to ask him what was in the cage. Dekka and Emily hadn't called in either but they were father off. However it was still nerve wracking and they were starting to get worried but all their problems were building up and keeping them distracted and they assumed they each had a mutated animal keeping their hands full which was what slowed them down. Or they hoped but none of them would admit that out loud.

"Hey!" Diana snapped when Astrid and Quinn seemed to daze off. "Can we get back to the matter! What are we going to do about Ripley?"

"There isn't much that we can do." Astrid mumbled, biting her lip, still half thinking of Sam and the others.

"So we're going to leave him to take Caine and us to prison as soon as he catches us?" Diana snapped.

"No, of course not." Astrid sighed and moved to take a seat opposite the two of them on the middle mattress on the floor, they really needed to get better seating arrangements but the sofa was still pushed against the wall and there was just no room to put the mattresses in order to pull it out. "We just need a plan."

"What plan? Shove his head into a blender?" Diana growled.

"I'd like to see that." Caine grinned. He seemed to be the only one not taking this seriously. He was settled beside Diana, half lying down leaning on his elbows with a cocky grin on his face. He looked completely at ease... But it was an act. He was just as worried about getting caught. Caine was sure he could probably take them all on but what if they somehow covered his hands? What if they cemented them and locked him away? He'd be useless and a joke rather than the king he truly was. And then there was Diana, what would they do to her if they found out she was helping him? His smile flickered but he forced it to stay in place.

"We need to think of a real plan." Astrid argued, trying to pull her mind away and think of the problem at hand. "We need a way to maybe... Maybe get Ripley either fired or transferred somewhere else so that he can't bother us any more and no one will listen to him."

"Are you sure?" Roger said, sitting beside of her.

Astrid didn't answer at first. She looked at everyone and saw their true feelings on each of their faces, even the cocky Caine who was trying to remain calm had a flicker every now and then. Enough think of the others, they were probably fine. Ripley was going to be a big problem. If he caught them then he would hurt them. He would lock them all away and if he found out about their powers again then they would all end in a laboratory along with the killer animals until more people got hurt. They needed a way to get rid of him but how were they going to do it.

"Yes. And I have a plan too!" Astrid beamed suddenly as inspiration struck. "Diana, Emily, Dekka and I will all go down to the police station where he works and say that Ripley has been sexually harassing us. We'll cry and say he frisks us for no reason, makes us stand there while he takes pictures and grabs us inappropriately whenever he wants to stop and talk. While Edilio, you, Quinn, Sam and Kevin can step forward saying whenever you tell him to stop touching us or to leave us alone he attacks you. He attacks for no reason too when you're just walking in the streets."

Quinn frowned. "But what if they think we're just people trying to cause trouble?"

"They probably will, but we'll keep complaining. And if they try anything against us then we'll go to newspapers and lawyers and complain to them." Astrid nodded.

"We'll force them to do something about him." Quinn nodded suddenly grinning.

"Exactly." Astrid grinned back.

"Okay, so we have a plan." Roger nodded. Then he stood. "I want to go search for Edilio... And the others." He added quickly.

"I think that's a good idea." Astrid nodded, relaxing slightly. The idea they had a plan for Ripley was enough to leave her guilty free to think to Sam and the others again. "They've been gone a long time."

Diana scowled. It was a good plan and she liked the idea of dragging Ripley's name through the dirt but she still didn't like the way they so easily pushed it aside. The others were probably fine, Caine was the one in trouble but of course all Astrid could think of was her boyfriend. Typically Astrid. Typically Astrid The Dumb Genius.

"You coming, Diana?" Astrid asked, looking at her.

As she stared up at her Diana felt a ridiculous pang of guilt for thinking that. But she wasn't ready to let go the fact that they were pushing Caine to the side and so in return she pushed aside the guilt and ignored it, nodding her head and standing to follow them.

They all stood up and moved for the door. They were about to leave when Diana stopped, turned and pushed Caine back down to the ground again, gently.

"You can stay here." Diana scowled.

"No way!" Caine snapped, trying to stand again.

"Yes way." Astrid chimed in, walking to stand beside of her.

"Caine, you've been seen by Ripley already. Don't you think he's going to be snooping around outside, waiting and looking for you when we come out just to see if you are going to be with us?" Diana sighed.

"Yeah, we best keep someone here too." Quinn offered, stepping back. He wanted to help Sam but a small part of him still didn't want to be involved with the animal mutants. "That way Caine can stay in Diana's bedroom and if Ripley comes in he can hide against the ceiling again while I get rid of him."

Caine did not look happy. He glared at Quinn in particular for suggesting he stay but when he opened his mouth to argue the others had already slammed the door behind them. Caine turned and scowled at the door. Then, in anger, he waved his hand and threw a draw from the furniture on the opposite side of the room out of it's place, hitting the door hard and letting it drop broken to the ground.

"You still have your anger issues huh?" Quinn smirked.

"Shut up! We all know I can break that door down and leave any time I want." Caine snarled.

Quinn frowned at that and then slowly smiled. "Yeah, but you're not because you know we're all right. You're staying here, talking to me because you know if Ripley catches you that's the end and even if you could take him, you'd have to show everyone your powers and everyone would hunt you down..." Quinn turned and began to make something to eat while still grinning. "And not just you. They'd come after Sam, Astrid _and _Diana and all the other old moofs just to be sure and the last thing you'd do is get Diana locked up."

Caine let out a growl so animal like Quinn hesitated. But then he fell silent and slouched where he was sitting. He hated people being able to read him so easily and it was even more insulting having some random fisherman like Quinn being able to read him. He pulled himself up into sitting position, ignoring Quinn when he looked pointedly at Diana's bedroom door.

It took a while but finally Quinn gave up being subtle. "Don't you think you should be in Diana's room in case Ripley comes by?"

"Don't you think the first place Ripley will look is one of the bedrooms? So wouldn't it make more sense for me to stay here and push myself against the ceiling in this room rather than one of the others where he thinks I would be hiding?" Caine smirked.

Quinn blinked and stared at him. None of them had thought about that.

"Didn't think of that, did ya, Fisherman?"

He watched as Caine smirked and settled back, grabbing a book off the bookshelf and flicking through it to seem busy and pass the time. It was going to be a long time. He really wasn't looking forward to having to hang around inside constantly again and he didn't plan to do it for very long anyway. As soon as something big happened he was going to force his way out to do something. He hadn't actually had a chance to test his powers properly to see how strong he was now. He felt strong but that could just be in his mind, he really wanted to try lifting something heavy and see how much of a strain it would be for him.

He smirked and looked back down to the book in his hand. It was only a matter of time before he went out to a place where he could really practice. And then he wouldn't sit around any more.

**G*O*N*E**

The argument lasted for ten long minutes. That was ten long minutes where Dekka was away from Emily while she suffered and possibly passed away in Connie's bed. But Emily's brother was the only one home, their parents were actually trying to find some kind of rule or law that says they were allowed to drag Emily home by her hair if they had to (apparently her family wanted her home and she had been refusing ever message they gave her via phone). Her brother said he knew Emily's blood type when Dekka asked but he wasn't telling her what it was because she wasn't telling him how his sister had gotten hurt in the first place and he didn't trust her. Well, actually Dekka was trying to tell him what happened but he just wasn't listening.

"A hydra, what the hell is that? Is that a gun? Did you shoot her?!" Brother shouted, standing in the doorway and getting more angry with her the longer she spoke.

"How can it be a gun when I told you a hydra stabbed her?! What does it matter?! You're sister is bleeding and I need to know her blood type so we can give her more blood so she doesn't die!" Dekka snarled, stepping up to him threateningly. If Brother was getting angry with her the longer they stood there, then Dekka was inches away from squeezing the life from him.

Brother looked nervous, Dekka made a frightening impression when she was acting normal, let alone when she wanted to, but he still refused to back down to her.

"Get away from here. As soon as my parents get Emily home she isn't leaving again." Brother snarled.

"Look! If you don't believe me then fine, but what exactly am I going to do with Emily's blood information?" Dekka snarled.

Brother sneered and turned into the house again, about to shut the door on her. Dekka grit her teeth until her jaw hurt. She wasn't going to let Emily die because her brother was an idiot. She jumped forward, slamming the door open with both hands and dragged him from the house by his shirt. As soon as he was out in the open, shouting and fighting, she pushed him away from her so he hit the ground hard. Before he could get up she raised her palms towards him, cancelling gravity and sending him high into the air. Brother shrieked and Dekka glared up at him.

"I am not playing! Weird stuff is happening and I need to save your sister so stop being an ass and tell me her fricken blood type!" Dekka shouted up at him.

Brother screamed and struggled in the air. He was terrified and found himself thinking back to when Caine had lifted him into the air back in the FAYZ. Emily had actually saved him by giving in and allowing Caine to use their home to contact Zil and his men. But she wasn't here any more and this crazy girl somehow had the power even though the FAYZ had ended and everyone was supposed to have lost their powers yet this girl had him higher than his home and he was still going!

"I wouldn't struggle too much." Dekka shouted. "If you struggle you could fall out of my range and fall back to the ground." That was a lie. Dekka had just as much as control as she would ever get, she could do what the leopard did and cancel gravity on Brother alone rather than the things under and around him. But she wanted to give him a good scare.

"Okay! Okay!" Brother screamed.

"What's her blood type?!" Dekka snapped.

"AB Negative!"

"Thank you!"

Dekka lowered him down until he was hovering over the ground and dropped him sharply so he landed on his side awkwardly and hard. Brother scrambled away from her but Dekka was already jogging back down towards of Perdido Beach. It wasn't long but it felt that way. Connie wasn't going to be able to get blood until Dekka told her the type and even then Dekka needed to get a needle to get the blood into her. It would have been so much easier to get the drip and take her to hospital. But they couldn't until they were sure no one would ask them any uncomfortable questions.

She felt bad for Emily but was sure she would understand when she woke up. If she didn't wake up, then Dekka would never forgive herself for what happened.

**G*O*N*E**

They carried Kevin from the abandoned house on Sam's back just like before and took him around to the back of the building so the ambulance wouldn't see them when it arrived. They wished they could leave him there to be found but instead they planned to have the ambulance assume it was a prank and just go away, they needed time to think before they did anything rash. Neither of them knew what to do with him. They didn't want to just leave him to be found, they wanted to call his family and tell them what happened, but if they did they were worried they would be blamed for his death. They needed to think of some way to let his family find him and let them know what happened without it leading back to them.

Sam hated that they had to do this. He hated everything about what was happening! It wasn't fair that Kevin had to die when he had been so brave, and it wasn't fair that he had to die by a slow bleed to death. But then it wasn't fair for E.Z to die, or Duck to die, or Hunter to die, or even Caine to die the first time. No one deserved to die and yet it was all they seemed to be doing.

When they were behind the building they set Kevin down carefully as if he were still alive and stared at him for a moment. In the dark shade of the house he didn't look dead, at least not with the blind fold still covering his eyes and his arm seemingly attached.

"We need to call his family." Edilio whispered.

"I hate this, Edilio." Sam whispered back.

"I know, man."

"No, I mean I really hate this. I don't think I can do this again. Watching friends die when all they're trying to do is help or survive." Sam whispered, shaking the longer he stared down at Kevin.

"How do you think I feel?" Edilio hissed. "Who was responsible for burying kids? The only difference is that it isn't just kids any more. Everyone needs our help and we can't break down now, no matter how hard. Come on, Sam. Take a breath. We'll call Kevin's family and the police. We'll just have to tell them we found him like this and hope for the best. And then we'll catch Gaia and the rest of them and kill them before they can hurt anyone else."

Neither of them bothered to mention what they both already knew. It would be impossible to beat Gaia. They had no way to do it, no idea how to start, and the chances are if they tried then they would just end up in the same position as Kevin.

Sam didn't say anything. He watched Edilio pull out of phone and call the police first. The police could contact Kevin's parents when the time came. For now they knew they would have to wait for the police to turn up and give statements on how they "found him" like this. Or one of them would.

"Go home, Sam. Tell the others what happened." Edilio said quietly after a moment when he hung up the phone.

"I can't leave you." Sam sighed.

"Yes you can. I wasn't a mutant so they can't say anything to me about that. They won't be able to have prejudice like some of them have. They probably won't even know me while everyone knows all about you." Edilio shrugged his shoulders. It was a lie, a lot of people knew about him just not as many as those who knew about Sam. "Just head back and tell the others what happened. Compared to that, I have the easy job!"

Sam stared at him and nodded, sighing. He slowly stood, cast one last long look at Kevin, then turned and headed back. It was the longest walk he had taken, having to be normal with so many people walking passed him, smiling and laughing, no idea of the tragic death just a few feet away from them.

**G*O*N*E**

After a while of doing nothing, Caine drifted off to sleep on the mattress while Quinn watched the news for any more signs from mutated animals in far off places. Sadly there had been a few cases, including a boy found insane beside his dead friend that he may have killed and shortly away from that very spot where a man murdered his son and killed himself in front of everyone. But then that could just be normal horror. At least Quinn might have believed that if it had happened so close to one another. For Caine, it was nice to get some rest but at the same time he knew what was coming. More dreaming of Little Pete.

It was the weirdest thing to him at first. He assumed maybe it was because he died with Little Pete taking over his body but even that didn't make sense as to why it was the two of them facing one another in a strange area that had to be death nor why Caine continued to dream about him when he was back. It was only after time as each of the dreams came together that they started to make sense. Even now Caine hadn't told Diana most of what he saw but none of it seemed very important even put together. At least, none of it seemed very important until now when it all came together in one go and every question Caine had asked was answered.

It started out like most of the dreams started, in a big white room with only Caine and Little Pete standing facing one another with no features that he could see other than those simple facts. They didn't say anything to begin with, it was like an awkward get together between old friends that had a falling out and neither of them knew what they could say, before Caine just shrugged and sat down, though his legs weren't tired he felt the need to settle and rest. In fact nothing was tired or hurt, in this dream he felt nothing like he was numb but in a good way that didn't bother him.

"Hi." Caine said when he grew tired of the silence and just wanted to move on.

"Thank you." Pete said immediately. He sounded strange, like Caine's voice was normal but Pete's echoed around the room and was completely neutral in every way a mixture of everything put into one. Maybe it was just because Caine didn't remember ever actually wearing Pete speak before but he was sure it was something more than that.

"For what?" Caine blinked when he got over the shock of Pete's voice.

"For helping me. You gave me a body to borrow. And now I have peace." Pete smiled. "I am at peace."

"Glad someone is." Caine grumbled, glaring at him.

"You aren't?" Pete blinked like the idea of someone not being happy and peaceful made no sense to him.

"No! Why would I be! I'm dead!" Caine snapped. "I gave all of it up. And now I'm really starting to regret that choice big time."

Pete stared at him for a moment, seeming to be contemplating his words. Then he nodded his head as if he understood but his face was still frowning slightly in confusion. In the dream the next round of silence was barely a minute long but Caine remembered it to have been as long as half an hour. He hadn't done anything because he didn't know what he was supposed to do now he was dead, he expected Satan or Jesus to show up and take him and Pete into Heaven or Hell. He silently wondered what happened to Gaia, his daughter as well as the monster, because he didn't see them anywhere and they weren't actually one person. Gaia was an innocent baby so would she be taken into heaven? Or would the darkness hold on her drag her to hell... It seemed weird really, no one ever imagines a baby going to hell...

"Okay..." Pete said suddenly, drawing Caine's attention back to him and out of his own thoughts.

"Okay what?" Caine frowned at him.

"You helped me. I think I can help you." Pete explained.

Caine frowned at him, no idea what he was trying to say. He really was a retard. Caine didn't care if he was powerful, that didn't make him any less deserving of his nickname 'Petard'.

"How are you going to help me?" Caine scowled.

"I think I can do it. It will be a thank you. I think I have just enough power here left to do it... Thank you." Pete smiled and stepped closer to Caine.

Caine hurried to climb back onto his feet. He wasn't really scared or Pete or anything but honestly the kid did make him a little nervous. Okay maybe he was a little scared. Any smart person would be scared of someone with his power and his little control over what he did with it. He had no idea what Pete was going to do. But he was definitely worried and took a quick step back away from him as he stepped closer with his small child hand held out.

"What are you doing?!" Caine snapped, taking another step back.

"I am going to give you a second chance." Pete beamed.

"What are you talking about?!" Caine shouted. "You're crazy, stay the hell away from me."

Pete reached over and suddenly his hand was reaching up so the tip of his finger tips just touched Caine's chest over where his heart was, no longer beating but still there. For a moment nothing happened, but then he felt a tightening cold feeling around him and hurried to get away from Pete because he knew he was the cause of these uncomfortable feelings. As he was hurrying away he felt something, his heart beating fast. Then he realised his heart was actually beating! He gasped and stumbled away with Pete watching with a calm smile, moving his hand almost like he was waving.

The feeling Pete gave him filled him even when he was no longer touching his chest that now beat rapidly, it was spreading from his chest out to the rest of his body and even around the air around him. It was a weird feeling, incredibly warm and nice but tightening too and leaving Caine feeling sick as feeling washed over him again in a rush like a wave. He stepped back sharply away from him until it was getting harder to see the younger boy and watched as Pete just stood, watching him go. He was about twenty steps away from Pete when the floor under his feet cracked and opened up like the mouth and teeth of a jagged monster, dropping Caine into the hole where he began to fall.

The fall was long, it lasted hours really but his dream was only a few minutes. He fell long in the darkness. It was like falling into the earth with the earth beside of him, hard reddish brown rock that dropped and dropped, somehow glowing even though it should have been pitch black. He couldn't see the end of the drop and get going. And then occasional animal and mutated creatures that did strange things, they came out from the rock as if they were apart of it and stretched to reach him. They were still rock just shaped as animals and things he hadn't even seen before. They all had strange powers that were exactly like the previous mutants in the FAYZ. There was bright burning of pure light, hot rippling fire, floating objects that also seemed to appear out of nowhere, blurring movements that went back and forth in front of him and everything strange that anyone could imagine. Caine couldn't help but assume that this was hell. Fire, weird mutant powers, darkness and falling down under the Earth.

He screamed once, finally getting his voice back, before he hit the ground and blacked out with all the animal monsters leering over him. That was when he woke up to find Quinn asking him if he was okay.

* * *

**40) Does everyone understand what happened now?**


	23. Chapter 23

They found Sam just as he was about to enter the building doors. Actually they might have met him down the street or missed him completely but the three of them spent at least half an hour arguing on the stairs as they struggled to come up with a reason as to where to go first and who to look for. Astrid wanted to find Sam immediately since he had Toto (or that was her excuse for wanting to find him first). While Roger wanted to find Edilio (at least he didn't lie and simple stated he wanted to make sure he was okay). And Diana didn't care either way and just wanted to get moving so she could get back and they could avoid Ripley.

When they finally did get moving they agreed to just wander to the closest place and let fate decide who they found first. After that, Astrid almost ran into him in the doorway and immediately stopped, staring at him in shock because she could see the misery behind his eyes without either of them having to say a word. As soon as she was in front of him he threw himself into her arms and she hugged him, noticing that blood was smearing off of his arms and onto her clothes but she didn't push him away. Instead she wrapped her arms around his naked torso, rubbed his back and waited for him to tell her what happened. The others stood behind her, she could feel their inpatients but they didn't say anything for a moment, giving Sam the silence he so clearly needed. And then Sam was pulling back to stare at her.

"Kevin's dead." He whispered, only loud enough for them to hear. "Gaia... Her mutant got him. She cut him up and he bleed out before the ambulance got there in time."

"What?" Astrid gasped. She covered her mouth with both hands and shut her eyes, feeling tears building. "He... She... Oh... Oh poor Kevin."

Now it was her turn to throw herself against Sam so she could sob against his shoulder while he held her. Diana and Roger watched in silence, both showing similar signs of shock and sorrow in their eyes. Kevin hadn't been especially popular or a close friend but he was still human, he was still apart of their team and now he was gone. Now he had been killed and by Gaia...

"What was she?" Diana asked. "Gaia... What was she?"

"She looked normal." Sam mumbled, still hugging Astrid. "She just... She just had wings like a fairy and weird features but she still looked like the baby or toddler version she was in the FAYZ. But I don't think this one had the Gaiaphage in her, it was just a completely mutated dead mutant child."

Diana nodded. She was surprised by how much this information hurt her. Well, maybe it didn't hurt her but she felt a sudden hatred for herself and for the Gaiaphage for dooming that child and not giving her a chance to live. That child died the day she lived.

"How are we supposed to kill her?" Astrid sobbed.

"I don't think we can." Sam admitted, feeling sick.

"Then what are we supposed to do?!" Diana snapped, suddenly feeling panic rise in her chest until she felt hysterical.

With everyone else suddenly growing panic and frightened, Sam found his earlier strength pulling him in and he turned to look at Diana, hugging Astrid slightly tighter as he watched the others.

He started to say something encouraging when Astrid pulled away and faced them. "We find the others before anyone else can get hurt."

Sam was surprised to find out that the only people who had returned were Diana and Caine before Astrid showed up. Then, before they went out, they dragged Sam to the corner and Roger went to keep an eye out on the streets while they filled him in on how Ripley had been sneaking around and now knew the truth about Caine. The longer he listened, the more infuriated Sam found himself getting. He growled and clenched his fists, sick of Ripley. He didn't want to deal with Ripley now, not after what happened to Kevin, but at the same time he wanted nothing more than to run into him just to burn a hole through his heart!

"Holy hell!" Diana shouted.

"What?" Sam blinked and looked down, realising his fists were glowing as the light tried to fight free from his palms. He wasn't sure what surprised him more. That his hands were lighting up the whole room or that he wasn't even burning through his fingers with intense heat like normal, when he opened his hand two twin lights lifted up from his hand, lighting up the room.

"You... You're power!" Astrid gasped.

"Oh... I... I got it and... And I defeated my animal... It was a dog... I beat it and... And that was when Kevin died." Sam croaked. "If we hadn't been dealing with the dog then maybe..."

"No, Sam... You can't blame yourself." Diana sighed. "It does no good, it just drives you crazy. Let it go, at least until we know what we're doing."

Sam turned to stare at her and nodded, he allowed the light to die off in his hands and slowly breathed. Now it was his turn. They told him what had happened, it was up to him to explain what had happened with him and how he had been there with Edilio and Kevin when... When it happened. Only he couldn't do it. He couldn't bring himself to do it, and so instead he shrugged. "You guys know the basics of what happened with us. I think we need to go and find the girls."

Neither Diana nor Astrid looked happy with the lack of detail he gave them but they didn't push for answers either.

"We should go. Where about's did the girls go to look?" Sam asked, trying to change the subject as the tension made the room seem so much stuffier than he liked.

"What about Edilio?" Roger said, frowning from the doorway.

"Yeah, where is he? Wasn't he with Kevin?" Astrid asked and fear began to draw in her eyes.

"He's fine!" Sam said quickly, looking from the girls to Roger. "He is perfectly fine. I promise you he is fine. It's just, one of us had to stay and say we stumbled on Kevin to avoid any trouble and to make sure they found him for his family and that. He told me to come back and that he'd catch up with us later tonight."

"I hope he's okay." Astrid mumbled.

"I'm sure he's fine." Diana shrugged. "Let's go find Dekka and Emily. It's already dark."

**G*O*N*E**

Caine didn't tell Quinn what he had just dreamed about. Of course he didn't, if he didn't tell Diana everything why would he suddenly tell Quinn. But he did feel cold and nervous as he slowly climbed to his feet and wandered over to the kitchen, needing a cold drink to calm himself down. Quinn barely looked up from where he was still watching the TV. There didn't seem to be anything else about animals, or even freaky accidents though someone had crashed and caused a massive pile up, it was said he was drinking coffee and spilled it onto his lap, distracting him enough to cause the accident. That didn't seem like much of a serious mutated animal creating chaos. Just idiotic people.

Caine glanced over at the back of Quinn's head. He had sat down on the sofa against the wall, even though it meant he had to twist around at an awkward angle to see the screen. He sneered at the other boy as he drank his water and leaned against the counter, watching his sandy hair and frowning. Why on Earth did they leave Caine alone with Quinn? Out of anyone they left Quinn behind. No, he knew why Quinn had stayed. It was because Quinn was the cowered that volunteered to stay because he didn't want to face those mutated animals. Just because Quinn became handy in the FAYZ didn't make him any less of a cliche coward.

He didn't like Quinn. Maybe it was because of the strike he had in the FAYZ after the incident with Penny and Cigar or maybe it was just that he was a normal human but Caine did not like him. Of course he didn't hate Quinn. He hated Albert, a normal that somehow controlled him and then wimped out and left him to die. He hated Sam, the one Connie had chosen to keep and the one that had not only lived but lived with his girlfriend and rivaled Caine's power. He hated the darkness for controlling him and taking over his daughter's body. He didn't care too much about the daughter but it had hurt Diana and whoever hurt Diana was on Caine's hate list. That was why Drake was there. And that idiot Brittney. But he didn't hate Quinn, just seriously disliked him.

Maybe it was sick, or selfish, or just horrible not to care about what happened to his daughter. But Caine had no delusions like other people did. Some people were not meant to be parents or have kids and Caine was one of those people, plus she wasn't even really his by the end. You couldn't force feelings on someone. If he didn't care for his daughter then he didn't care and nothing anyone said would change that.

Caine set the drink down gently on the counter and continued to stare at the back of Quinn's head. He knew he promised to stay inside, well he didn't promise, that was the point. And he was sick of hanging around...

"Right, I'm heading out." Caine stated.

"What?" Quinn yelped, startled, spinning on the spot to face him.

"I'm heading out." Caine smirked, crossing his arms over his chest. "Now this ought to be fun. Are you actually going to try and stop me?"

Quinn blinked and stuttered. He didn't know what to do. He needed to stop him but how was he going to do that? Caine had power, he could easily throw Quinn away and pin him long enough to charge out from the building.

"You. I thought. What about Diana?" Quinn snapped.

"Changed my mind." Caine grinned, shrugging.

Quinn stood up as Caine began to walk around to the door. He stepped in the doorway and held his arms out, blocking his way.

"Just... Just listen a second! If you leave, I call the others and then they-" Quinn began.

"Can't do a buggering thing about it." Caine shrugged and lifted his hands to point their palms at him. "Now, do you move my choice or force?"

Quinn hesitated and then relented. He lowered his arms and stepped to the side and Caine strode outside, still dressed in clothes slightly too big and shoes slightly too small. Quinn had a feeling he was using power to make it easier on himself or otherwise his injuries weren't that bad because he walked without even a slight limp now.

"Wait!" Quinn shouted after him, snatching his jacket from the floor.

If Caine was going to go there was nothing Quinn could do to stop him, but maybe he could chase after him and keep him from doing anything stupid. And if he was lucky he would be able to hide Caine if Ripley were to get in the way before he saw him.

**G*O*NE**

"This is completely unfair!" Edilio shouted, he was shaking. "I found a body, I found the body for a friend and you're seriously going to drag me into to ask me questions! I... I need something! I just saw my friend..." Edilio broke off and buried his face in his hands. Acting came in handy. He was in shock, just not as much as he was putting on. He just didn't want to be dragged down to the police station by Ripley to be asked questions on how he found Kevin's body. He knew he might have to be taken by he wanted anyone other than Ripley to ask the questions. Luckily Ripley wasn't alone, there was a second officer with him who seemed to be more understanding.

"It's okay, calm down. We just need a statement as to who he is, how you found and anything else." The officer named Tricks smiled. "Come on, we'll get you a hot drink and wrap you in a blanket at the station and then call someone to come and pick you up."

Edilio hesitated, knowing there was no way out, then nodded. He glanced at the body which was now being covered up and put in a body bag on a stretcher. He swallowed and shivered at the sight and allowed Tricks to take his arm and lead him towards the car. He couldn't help but glance up to find Ripley watching him closely. He had hoped that Ripley wouldn't be the one to come and find them and while he hadn't been the first on the scene he was still here which was bad enough.

The two of them took him down to the station and found him a room. It felt uncomfortably like an interrogation room but the seats were more comfortable and there didn't seem to be any of that mirror one way glass stuff they used in films. But still, he took no risk and kept his face still. Though Edilio was starting to wish he could switch jobs with Sam rather than be here on his own.

It took them ten minutes before Tricks came back and sat down beside of him, holding a blanket and a hot drink. Ripley was nowhere to be seen.

"Where's the other guy?" Edilio asked, accepting the drink and being careful not to mention Ripley by name.

"His job center's around patrolling the streets." Tricks explained. "He just came with us to ask a few questions he was curious about."

"What kind of questions?" Edilio asked, feeling sick.

Tricks frowned at him but, trying to gain Edilio's trust and comfort, told him the truth. "Just if anyone else was with you when we came, how the boy had been killed and stuff like that. Normal curiosity."

Or maybe Ripley knew more than they realised. Edilio was suddenly in a hurry to get out of there and tell the others but knew he had to bid his time to avoid looking suspicious.

"Can you tell me how you came across the body?" Tricks asked kindly, a recorder in hand.

"I... I was just walking." Edilio shrugged, trying to stay calm and just show the look of someone terrified rather than guilty. "I was heading back to a friend's. I'm staying at his, me and... me and Kevin." He shivered and kept going. "And I heard something and I followed the sound and just found him there."

"What did you hear?" Tricks asked.

"Like an animal or something, probably running through the rubbish or maybe that's what attacked him." Edilio mumbled.

"Okay and what time was this?" Tricks asked.

"I dunno a few minutes before I called you guys." Edilio shrugged.

"A few minutes?"

"Yeah. I was... I was checking the body to make sure... I hoped he might still be..." Edilio lowered his head. He didn't have to fake the tears now. Poor Kevin...

"So you moved the body?" Tricks asked.

"Only a little. Just... Just to see if he might still be..." He trailed off again and quickly set the drink down on the table in front of him, worried he might spill it if he didn't set it down.

Tricks nodded, putting a gentle hand on his shoulder. He let Edilio compose himself before he sat up and looked at him again.

"I know this is hard, but can you tell me exactly what position the body was in and what it looked like when you found him?" Tricks asked.

Edilio hesitated then nodded his head and spoke in slowly. He really didn't have to act any more. It was hard to speak anyway. It was hard to work his mind and imagination as well as think back to his body lying there, bleeding.

"He was... Sort of on his front, arms and legs kind of spread out and... And his eyes were shut and he was pale." Edilio said and froze, knowing he just made the biggest mistake.

"How could you tell?" Tricks frowned. "He had a bandage over his eyes. And his arm."

"Um. Yeah. I... I checked. I lifted the bandage up." Edilio said quickly.

"And it just came up? We've checked, it was tied pretty tight. Took us a while to get it undone long enough to check his face." Tricks explained, frowning at Edilio in a new way now. More suspicious.

Shit. Edilio cursed. Calm down. He told himself. Just stay calm and try and get a hold of the situation again. "I only lifted it up a little to see and then I let it go..."

"And his arms were both spread out?" Tricks frowned.

"No. Not both. Just one. The one without the t- the bandage around it." Edilio stuttered.

Tricks nodded, watching him closely. Edilio tried to remain calm. Only he was nervous now and wondered if he was too calm or not calm enough. Surely it wasn't unusual for innocent people to screw up what they were saying. Maybe he wouldn't think anything of it and would just let it go... Edilio hoped.

**G*O*N*E**

"I thought you couldn't get a drip..." Dekka blinked.

She had returned, told Connie the blood type and then been forced to take a nap as she looked ready to collapse at any moment. It was late when she woke up and she had stumbled back into Connie's room from Sam's old room to find Emily was hooked up to a drip with blood entering her body.

"I met a friend when I was getting blood. They're good. Trust me." Connie smiled patiently.

"Oh..." Dekka mumbled, staring at Emily.

"Did you get some sleep then?" Connie asked.

Dekka nodded, barely paying attention as she walked over to stand beside of Emily on the bed. She looked better. She was asleep now, properly, with a healthy peachy glow coming off her and the blood had all been cleaned up, her body covered with a clean blanket. She mumbled slightly but that didn't seem all too different. If anything she looked better now, much better.

"I'd like to know what's happening." Connie said. It wasn't a demand but not a question either.

Dekka stared down at Emily and then moved so she was sitting on the edge of the bed, turning to look at Connie. It was weird just being the two of them and she wasn't sure if Sam would mind but by now Dekka didn't care. Connie had just saved Emily's life. She could ask anything she wanted.

"Caine's back." Connie's eyes widened but Dekka kept going. "Somehow he is alive and we don't know how but when he came back so did these animal like creatures that have the power of all the freaks in the FAYZ. A slug could teleport itself and people like Emily. A leopard could stop gravity like me. And so many more. We have discovered whatever these creatures fear the most is what kills them. So we have been going around and killing these creatures with their greatest fear before they could harm anyone else." She shrugged. "Emily and I got caught by a big creature and the truth is that we don't know how to handle it. I'm going to need to call the others and let them know..."

Connie stared at her as they fell silent. They were both silent. Dekka returned to watching Emily, relieved she was getting better and worried she might still have a sudden problem that could kill her at any moment. She was giving Connie time to process it but it was probably a lot to handle in one go.

"Can I take a shower?" Dekka asked suddenly. "After that I'd like to call Sam and the others."

Connie nodded, barely listening any more. As Dekka stood and went to the doorway she looked back and found herself feeling sorry for Connie. Not just Connie, but all the adults. They had no idea what was waiting for them, they had no idea what they were up against and were probably going to be the ones who had the most problem with this. It was almost amusing.

But mostly it was pitying.

Dekka sighed, shaking her head and leaving Connie to think about her dead son coming back and monstrous animals killing people with super powers.

The shower was meant to be quick but instead it was long. Part of her was resentful to going back and facing Connie, now that she calmed down a million questions had probably popped into her mind that Dekka would have to answer, but she was also reluctant to call the others and give them the bad news that Drake was back as some kind of monster Hydra. It was all too much and she found herself sitting down on the floor was the water rained on her. It was hot, beginning to burn but she didn't change the temperature.

Poor Brianna was in that room... Emily! Emily was in that room. Not Brianna. Brianna died in the FAYZ and she couldn't bring herself to start worrying about that now. At the moment Emily was the one in danger and she could have died if Dekka had been a moment later or if the claw that had hit her had just been a few inches up towards her heart. Poor Br-Emily! Emily! Emily! Emily!

"God damn!" Dekka hissed, squeezing her hands into fists and slamming the against her eye lids. "This is not the time! I can't worry about the dead. Even Brianna. I need to concentrate on keeping Emily alive and figuring out a way to kill the Drake Brittney hydra!"

She hated how weak she was. It had been years now and she still couldn't move on! She still couldn't go on a date with other girls and she couldn't even watch a female friend get hurt without automatically thinking about Brianna. It was ridiculous and she hated herself for it. Most of all she hated herself for not being able to protect Brianna. She should have been there. She should have saved Brianna, she should have been there to save her and then they wouldn't be here now. Dekka wouldn't be in the shower feeling weak and pathetic. Brianna probably would have rounded up half the animals in a day and then the rest in the next day. Brianna would have taken a chainsaw and cut Drake's legs off and chopped him up and fed him to starving people in Africa with his remains just to make sure he stayed dead.

Dekka started crying. It was quiet so Connie didn't come searching for her because the downpour of the shower drowned her out but it still hurt. She was weak. She was pathetic. And oh God she missed Brianna!

"I miss her." Dekka croaked. "I miss her so much!"

**G*O*N*E**

She couldn't kill people. Neither of them could which was why they had somehow banded together and hid away from the other animals that really could cause damage. However they did still feel the intense urge to protect what area that they called their own, which turned out to be an area in the woods that had a high tree and a small burrow side by side that was easily hidden from and defended from intruders. That was how it worked with them. There were two groups of people with one single exception from either groups.

The first group was those that were territorial. They normally woke up or found a place they chose as home as they killed anyone or anything that dared approach their area, keeping them away and making sure it stayed safe. The other group were those that were restless and didn't care for a place of their own, only wanting to feel excitement as they caused others pain and killed them in the worst way possible. They were normally the ones that had something missing which made the that way. Then the one exception, no one knew about just that it had been a dog that wasn't part of the territorial group, nor the blood thirsty group. It would kill just like anyone else but it was a dog that seemed to be searching for something or someone in particular.

They, a snake and a starling, were an odd pair and not very frightening when first looked at. But when someone, for example a couple that had been hiking through the woods, had stumbled upon their home and hadn't left even when Starling had kicked up a fuss, they moved into action. So then it was Snake's turn when Starling failed to get rid of them. She crawled out from her burrow and moved close, then bit the girl's leg through her jeans. The girl shouted and the snake quickly moved away before she could touch it. Of course they left after that but her poison was already sinking in, it wouldn't do much but the girl would end up sickly in hospital.

Their power's were both to do with stealth and information rather than power of defending but they had other parts to them. Snake was strong, she could choke someone and then there was her poison in her fangs. She could bite and make them sick or - if she bit them enough - kill them while Starling just pecked at their face, sensitive areas to cause them great horrific pain. Shortly afterwards they left them alone and the two were able to rest.

They didn't do much in between defending territory but they didn't need to. They would rest, they would defend, and then they would be happy. That was who they were.

* * *

**41) Any guesses as to who the snake and starling are?  
**

**... I just realised. I am close to the end! Omg! I enjoyed writing this story, be sad when it's done. And sorry for those who wanted other characters back but I couldn't do that and stick to the story. Maybe I can write another story about those in the FAYZ who died in the FAYZ didn't really die... Something like that maybe. **


	24. Chapter 24

"He's not answering." Dekka mumbled unhappily, staring at the phone in her hand.

Connie was busy dealing with Emily. She had woken and they were getting as much food as they could in her because she needed the energy to help her body heal on its own. Connie had been surprisingly quiet when Dekka had finally come back, fully dressed with wet hair soaking her back and into her old clothes. She hadn't asked her any questions, seeming to accept it all quicker than any of them did. Instead she gave Dekka something to eat and then showed her to the phone before she continued to nurse Emily.

"Maybe they're searching for more animals." Emily guessed. She spoke quietly and her voice slurred but Connie didn't seem worried and continued to feed Emily some kind of cereal from her kitchen.

"They wouldn't at this time of night." Dekka mumbled, frowning out the window into the darkness. "I think they might be looking for us. And I don't know any of their cell phone numbers off by heart."

"What happened to your phone?" Emily blinked.

Dekka sighed. "I think it must have fallen out when I was being lifted into the air by the leopard."

"Oh... Well, I have mine but it doesn't have their numbers." Emily mumbled.

"I know..." Dekka glared at the night like it was the time of days fault. She didn't like the idea of leaving them all to guess what was happening. She wanted to tell them about the hydra before any of them were hurt or even came back and she needed to help them now she had her powers again. She was done feeling weak. She needed to do something.

Dekka turned and watched Connie feed Emily again. It was clear Emily wasn't going anywhere. She was badly injured and was out for the count. And even if she was powerful, Dekka wasn't going to risk her using her powers to transport Dekka anywhere just in case it did something to her either physically or mentally. That didn't leave her with very many other options.

"Connie, do you have a car?" Dekka asked.

Connie looked up and blinked at her. "Yes. But it's quite old, I had to get a new one and I couldn't afford anything fancy."

"I need to borrow it." Now wasn't the time to be polite and ask. Dekka needed to get back. That was that.

Still, Connie was stalled by her abrupt request.

"I need it." Dekka stated. "I have to get back."

"Hello!" Emily snapped, frowning at her. "What am I? I get one stab wound and I'm useless? I could still teleport us both!"

"No you can't. Firstly you are not coming, you need to stay here and get better. And second, I don't want to risk you straining yourself and we have no idea how it would work. You could accidentally put me in the middle of the street." Dekka argued.

"I took us to fricken China!" Emily snapped. "I think I'd be okay!"

"And if Ripley is in the apartment?" Dekka snarled.

"You don't trust me?! Are you serious." Emily snarled, pushing Connie and the blanket away and actually trying to stand. She didn't get further than sitting up when she gasped and clutched her stomach, wincing in pain.

"Don't strain yourself!" Connie said sharply, pushing her down gently.

Dekka sighed and stepped up beside of her. "Okay, you really think you can do it? And by do it, I mean sending me and not you!"

Emily looked up and nodded. Her face set with concentration but also a little rebellion and Dekka saw it.

"You are not coming with me. If you do you'd be giving yourself a death sentence because Connie won't be there to help you and we can't drag her along since she kind of probably has a life here and is very kind to be taking care of you in the first place!" Dekka snapped.

Emily glared up at her. Dekka glared back. Connie found herself feeling like she was stuck in the middle of it all. Finally Dekka walked over to Emily and leaned down to stare at her properly in the eyes.

"You are not coming. If you try, you will die and I will have to bring you back here just so your stupid annoying brother can bury you. If you want to help then stay, get better. Maybe once you're better you can look through this area for animals but until then do as your told. I'm taking your car, Connie." Dekka said sharply. "Keep her here."

Emily moved like she might follow but Connie held her down. She must have said something to convince her because a few moments later Connie was handing her keys over to Dekka in the living room and there was no Emily in sight. She just hoped it would stay that way.

"Do you have a license?" Connie asked.

"Yes but not on me." Dekka admitted. "If I obey all the laws hopefully I won't be pulled over."

"Stay safe." Connie whispered.

"I will." Dekka nodded, watching as Connie looked like she might cry.

Dekka didn't know it but Connie felt horrible. They didn't look very much alike but Dekka reminded Connie of Dahra. Especially now that she was making a trek at nighttime on a mission to get back to Sam so that she could warn him about something.

"Thank you." Dekka nodded.

She wasn't sure what kind of car it was, but it was simple and silver. The seats were stiff and Dekka felt nervous holding the wheel in her hands but she had no idea why. Part of her wished she could get Emily to just drop her off but the truth was she did trust Emily, just not her powers.

"Time to go." Dekka whispered to herself.

Putting the car in drive, she turned of the head lights and began to work down the street, trying to keep the perfect pace and terrified the police would try and stop her for some reason. She didn't want to but if they did start to follow Dekka knew she would have to use her powers to stop them. Nothing was more important than getting back to Sam and the others to tell them what happened, even if only to let them know that they were both okay.

**G*O*N*E**

He didn't have her number. Only Astrid did because of the book she had been writing and even then it was only by luck she happened to have it in her contact book. But then luck was a big part of life, so it was luck that had Edilio spotting Anna and her sister Emma on their way home in their mothers car, pausing only so that Emma could use the bathroom quickly. They had take out bags on their lap and Edilio immediately ran over towards Anna who was stretching her legs by the back doors. He barely had time to think about it. This wasn't the time for quick thinking, it was the time for action. Lives were at stake! That sounded a bit dramatic but it was true.

He would have walked home, he knew the area, but the problem wasn't the walk or getting lost or even the fact that it was very late (or technically early?). It was the creatures and the people he would be meeting on the way. Edilio didn't want to risk running into any mutant animals and being killed because he had no way of defending himself against them! The police had confiscated his bag which he claimed to have been his and that it was stuff they were throwing away.

"ANNA!" Edilio called when he was near enough.

She looked up sharply, clearly she had been expecting horrifying creatures as much as he worried about them. But when she saw him, clearly recognizing him even if they hadn't spent much time together during or after the FAYZ, she visibly relaxed.

"Edilio? What are you doing here?" Anna blinked.

"It's a long story that involves the police station." Edilio sighed. "Look can you give me a ride back to the apartment? You know I don't fancy walking in the night."

Before Anna could reply her mother stuck her head out the window. "Edilio is it? Sure we can give you a lift. You'll have to point us which way, though."

Edilio blinked and looked at Anna who just grinned and shrugged her shoulders, her mother wasn't the kind to leave someone stranded at night. A few moments later Edilio was sitting in the back beside of Anna with Emma and their mother up front. In the back Anna and Edilio were communicating by writing messages on their phones and passing it back and forth for each other to read. They didn't want to risk Anna's mother or Emma hearing them since neither seemed like the kind to accept the mutated animals. As it was, Emma glared at Edilio whenever she had the chance to turn around.

From what Anna said Sinder was back in a psychiatric hospital because she is not reacting and when she did react she either screamed or laughed hysterically at nothing, or else she chanted repeatedly about her mind being broken and how the butterfly broke her mind. Everyone assumed it was a relapse but Anna and Edilio knew better, they just didn't know the reason for it apart from maybe that the Butterfly had been a part of Sinder and in killing it they had killed a part of her. Anna didn't know much more than that but she promised to check in on Toto as soon as she could, even if she had no idea who he was. It wouldn't be hard to find him considering he was once a freak in the FAYZ. The biggest worry was how they were going to help/fix them when this was all over. Would they fix themselves? Or were they going to spend the rest of their lives broken?

Edilio pushed the depressing thought away and smiled a thank you at Anna who smiled back. She hesitated then looked up at her mother. "Mum, can I sleep over with Edilio and the others tonight?"

Her mother stalled and glanced back at Edilio like she was happy to give him a ride but wasn't sure of her daughter sleeping over with a boy. Anna blushed and ignored the feeling of being a child again. In all rights she shouldn't have to ask! She just did it because even now she felt the need to be polite.

"Not tonight, sweetheart." Her mother said quietly.

"But mum! I'd an adult! I can look after myself!" Anna scowled.

There was a pause and she couldn't argue any further. Ignoring Emma glaring at them, Edilio smiled thankfully at Anna again.

**G*O*NE**

The Sekhmet was claiming the whole of the apartment buildings as her own. She had gone through each and every room, forcing them open and touching all the residents almost gently with her hand. As soon as she touched them, pain shot through them and old injuries resurfaced, breaking open almost as painful as when they first happened. Healed bone snapped, shaving cuts bleed out again, knife wounds, bullet wounds, bruises and concussions all came back as if they had never left, leaving the few people to either die or someone crawl from the building in fear and pain. The people that did make it out did call for the police but anyone that tried to enter was immediately injured by the Sekhmet. If they didn't have serious old injuries the Sekhmet quickly found ways to give them new injuries such as Ben. Lana didn't see the body or even know he was there, but Ben came looking for her the very next day. He didn't know where she lived but she hadn't shown for work and he had been looking for her, when he heard something weird was happening in those apartment buildings he had a horrible feeling she was there. Even though he was a bouncer he had no injuries that could kill him and halfway up the stairs the Sekhmet appeared. The fall broke his neck and he lay rotting on the ground, no one even able to collect his body.

Inside most of the rooms a few people were still alive, they were dying slowly but they could barely move and so the Sekhmet felt no worry for leaving them to suffer. Most of them had died eventually but then there weren't many in the apartments to begin with. Lana was alive and there was only one reason for that: Taylor. The golden lizard girl had appeared in Lana's apartment, she had fed her food and water and had even helped bandage the worst of her wounds up somehow. Maybe she remembered how Lana had saved her life before and was now helping her, either way, Lana didn't bother to question it.

"We have to kill it," Lana whispered as Taylor gave her a drink, looking exactly the same with blank expression and lizard tongue that crawled out every now and then.

Taylor stared at her with a blank face, gave her a drink and set the glass down by her side. She had gotten Lana to sit up against the wall in the bathroom where she sometimes managed to drag herself onto the toilet but mostly Lana was so weak all she could do was soil herself. Any minute now Taylor would disappear again. Maybe helping other people in the building, maybe helping people outside, maybe doing nothing but wandering around for a couple of hours before she returned. Lana had no way of knowing what Taylor did when she wasn't saving Lana's life.

"Taylor, please." Lana begged. "We have to kill it."

Taylor turned and stared at her, her tongue turning in between her lips for a moment before she vanished from sight. Lana whimpered and tried to lean back against the tiled wall, she wished Patrick was here but then if he was, would the Sekhmet have hurt him too? He had his own war wounds that he had gotten through the years that Lana had healed for him during the FAYZ, and then there was what happened after the FAYZ. No she was glad he wasn't here. She was glad he was at the vet's somehow alive. She wondered if they had tried to contact her about picking him up? Who knows, the phones had stopped working. Probably the Sekhmet, maybe the crap building.

What was she supposed to do now? How was she supposed to kill that Sekhmet on her own? Bullets didn't work and she was too badly injured to do any real fighting or anything else.

Before Lana could really get worked up on how useless it all seemed, Taylor appeared in front of her again. She was still in the original shorts and top from the FAYZ but now she had a dark brown belt strapped around her waist that was full of yet to be light fireworks. She held out a lighter and stared down at Lana in silence.

"Worth a shot." Lana whispered nodded determinedly. All previous weakness and fears evaporated at this small hope.

It took a while, and it hurt like crazy, but somehow Lana got herself up on her feet. It was going to be hard, she might have to be a distraction but as long Taylor stuck with her and as long as they managed to kill the monster then it would all be okay... At least that was what Lana hope. Hope was all she had at this moment really.

**G*O*N*E**

They walked through the town towards the main area where Dekka and Emily were supposed to be searching, which was near the edge of town and it was also empty. Everything seemed to be empty at this time of night. There was no one else wandering around and quite a few of the street lamps had automatically turned themselves off. Diana was restless, unable to think of anything more than Ripley and worrying that he was going to come out after them at any moment now or head back to the apartment while they weren't there and find Caine. Sam was mostly keeping an eye out for Edilio, no idea where he was or what was happening to him now with the police and Kevin's body. Roger couldn't stop thinking about Edilio either while Astrid's mind was too busy thinking of a plan on how they would strategically get Ripley of their backs to even watch out for the people they were looking for.

"My feet are starting to seriously hurt." Diana moaned. "I mean, I want to find them too but how long are we going to be searching for them?"

"What time is it?" Sam asked.

"Nearly half eleven." Astrid said, twisting her wrist to see the hands of her watch in the dark.

"We'll keep looking until twelve, if we don't find them by then we head back home and wait until morning. We should be able to find them after we have some real light." Sam explained.

He didn't say what they were all thinking and for that Astrid was grateful. The truth was they were all wondering if Emily and Dekka were even still alive. Were they dead like Kevin? Were they not dead but serious injured and desperately need help before the day was up but at the same time unable to get the help they needed? If they needed help then should the search stop at midnight? Shouldn't they keep searching until they found them even if it meant staying up all night?

No. That was the desperate part of them thinking. The smart part knew that they needed to rest, get refreshed and then search in the morning when they had more light to find them. But that didn't make them any happier about it.

They continued to search, moving down through the street and calling out for one another in case they were hiding from whatever might have hurt them. It seemed pointless, no one replied and they could hardly see the closer it came to midnight. Sam was careful and created small lights in his hand that could be mistaken for torches by anyone looking in on them, using the light to look into dark areas and search the worst places. Their biggest fear was drawing attention to themselves by calling out in the night and more than one person told them to shut up but because it was so dark and late they didn't question Sam's light. That didn't stop him from dropping his hand and closing his fist to hide the light constantly.

Behind of him Diana and Astrid glanced around quickly but mostly kept their eyes either on Sam or on the ground, deep in thoughts. Roger moved along, searching desperately for Edilio though they had no idea where he was and he knew they were actually trying to find the girls.

The rest of the half hour passed without much luck. They didn't even see any bystanders wandering down the street and in and out of their homes, let alone the girls they were looking for. It seemed to grow even darker and Sam felt more and more nervous about using the light in case someone happened to look out and spot him and actually focus on his hand. He didn't want to run into Ripley or anyone that might try and lock him up or even just find proof so they could get on the news. They would all need to stay quiet on this.

Not for the first time Sam worried about what Caine would be like when this was all over. Would they be able to keep him from doing anything stupid and using his powers in front of people for the stupidest and littlest things? Maybe Diana would be able to talk some sense into him but there was always the chance that even if that happened then he could easily slip up. One tiny slip up then they were all doomed. But then again the same could be said about Sam and anyone else with mutant powers. If someone were to see them right now and ask to see his torch he would have no way of showing them one and surely they could put one and one together. Especially since so many people knew him and if one of them got out then they would all be hunted. Sam glanced back worriedly at Astrid. He couldn't put her in danger.

Sam was guiltily happy when it was finally time to head back to the apartment. He turned off his light just to be safe, feeling even more nervous about being spotted, and ignored complaints that the others could no longer see. Only Astrid seemed to understand, taking his hand and giving it a gentle squeeze of encouragement as she walked beside of him.

Everyone seemed upset about heading back since they still had not found anyone but they understood they had to give themselves time to rest. Well three out of four understood that. Roger wasn't ready to stop searching just yet if he was given the choice.

The walk back was full of Roger arguing with Diana, both of them only had one person in mind. It was the one person that they cared the most for. Sam and Astrid knew better than to try and reason with them and instead let them argue it out while they finished the walk home.

Back at the apartment Sam was starting to just grow tired of listening to the two of them behind him as he unlocked the door. He and Astrid couldn't wait to get to their room, curl up, go to sleep and not be woken until the next morning when they would once again go in search of the others. Astrid tried not to wonder what would happen if they never found them. What if they were dead or so badly injured that they couldn't move and their bodies were left hidden somewhere never to be found? Their parents would never find them, it would be an endless miserable search.

As they entered the apartment none of them realised just how empty it was at first. Astrid made herself a glass of water while Sam began to strip off to go straight to sleep. It was only as Diana walked into the bedroom that she realised Caine wasn't there.

"Where's Caine?!" Diana demanded, running out of the room with wide eyes, already terrified and overreacting as she imagined Ripley walking in and taking them both.

"Wait... Where's Quinn?" Sam blinked, looking around the room.

"Don't tell me they went out?" Astrid blinked, looking around the room like they might suddenly appear if she looked hard enough.

"Caine wouldn't have..." Diana paused and corrected herself. "Well Quinn wouldn't have just run off like that... Would he? Oh God, what if Ripley came round and has them?! What if he arrested them?!"

"Calm down, Diana. Do you really think Caine would have let Ripley take him without a fight? This place is way too clean for Ripley to have arrested them. They must have gone out... I mean, Quinn wouldn't have left unless Caine left." Sam said. "Quinn would have followed to keep him out of trouble."

"So Caine left and Quinn followed." Roger nodded. "Do we go after them?"

"Of course we do!" Diana shouted. "Caine can't be out and about on his own, what if Ripley does catch him?!"

Roger turned to glare at her but before they could start fighting again over who was more important, Sam stepped up in between them holding up his hands against their chests. This was definitely no time to be fighting... But Diana had a point. And so did Roger. They stopped searching because they needed to get some sleep before they went on to search some more again. But Caine was special. Caine was wanted by Ripley and if anyone else caught him then it would be all over for him and the rest of them.

"We rest." Sam stated finally, ignoring Diana when she tried to protest. "We stay and get some sleep, then tomorrow we will continue to search for them all together like we planned. Understand?"

"Of course it would be different if it were Astrid." Diana snarled and stormed into her room.

"Diana, you know Caine will be fine, he can look after himself." Sam sighed.

"That's exactly what I am worried about!" Diana shouted, slamming the door loudly behind her.

Sam sighed and turned to Roger but he was already throwing himself down on the mattress to get some sleep. Astrid hesitated, watching them all. She wanted to look for the others even more now but she refused to become hysterical like they were all being. She would be smart, she would get some rest and in the morning they would continue to search.

"Come on." Sam said, reaching to take her hand. "Let's go to bed."

Astrid smiled and took his hand, heading to bed. Neither of them get much sleep and before long it was morning.

**G*O*N*E**

"I think I have a headache," Caine grumbled, barely moving his lips.

Caine and Quinn slept in an abandoned house not far from where the butterfly had been that attacked and nearly killed Sinder. It was new and they had easily opened one of the windows with Caine's powers, allowing them to sneak in and settle down in one of the far rooms. They slept on the wooden floor, both uncomfortable from the hard surface and cold from the ridiculous breeze that somehow always found a way in. They hadn't exactly planned on camping out and hiding away in the night but they didn't have much of a choice considering they were lost - neither knowing the part of town that they wandered into very well - and to make things worse they ran into the last person they ever wanted to see. Ripley.

They had to hide because he had been heading their way. And Quinn had checked but every time he did it seemed like Ripley knew they were there and was waiting for them to come out but casually looked around the rest of the streets rather than up at the house. Finally their bodies couldn't take it and they both fell asleep only to wake early the next morning when a binman truck came passed and began to collect the rubbish loudly. Quinn mumbled and stumbled back onto his feet while Caine stretched out on the floor.

"If he isn't gone by now, I'm giving up." Quinn growled. He was angry. This was all Caine's fault! They could be back at the apartment, sleeping on soft mattresses if Caine hadn't been his usual self and stormed out.

"Whatever." Caine mumbled. He stood up and glared at the back of Quinn's head. He was getting just as sick of Quinn as Quinn was of him. In fact... Maybe now would be the best time to leave.

Caine watched Quinn go into the hallway and look out the window for Ripley. As soon as he was out of sight, Caine turned and headed for the door. Once again it was quick and easy to unlock the door, and soon he was heading outside into the cool air, probably just as Quinn would be calling that Ripley was gone.

He was sick of being babysat. He didn't need a babysitter.

Of course he didn't know it yet, but if he had paused then he would have heard Quinn come back to tell him that Ripley was amazingly right outside and now following Caine down the street.

* * *

**42) Something big is gonna happen. Any idea what?  
**


	25. Chapter 25

Anna's mum dropped them off at the apartment building just as she promised though she certainly wasn't happy about it and seemed a lot less warm to Edilio when he said goodbye and thank you. Anna took a small portion of the take out food they had collected to eat and said goodbye. It was hard to ignore the glare that Emma gave them but soon she and their mother was gone, heading down the road back home, leaving them in peace.

"Your sister won't tell her the truth will she?" Edilio asked, suddenly worried her mother would come back slamming on the doors and drag Anna away.

"No. Emma's just thinks I should stay out of it. Normally I'd agree but... Never mind, do you have no idea how lucky you really are?" Anna noted as they turned to the doors.

"I figured that out already, what were you and your family doing up so late getting food for?" Edilio asked.

"It's this tradition me and Emma have. We buy take out at night so we can walk under the stars and we head home and spend the night watching movies together. Only things were different now because of all the stuff happening so mum said she'd drive us instead. I think that's part of what has Emma so upset about, because I'm not joining her today but there are more important things. Did you see the news early?" Anna gasped.

"Not lately." Edilio admitted.

"There's something in the water not far off from here. No one knows what it is. Just that it's a monster, some people are even calling it the Loch Ness Monster." Anna explained.

Edilio fell silent and held back for a moment, then shook his head and led Anna back up to the room once more. There was no way of telling if that was related to what they were doing and even if it was there was no way to find the creature, nor tell whose animal it would be without seeing its powers against them and they didn't have time to worry about that anymore tonight. He didn't have a key so he was forced to knock gently and wait for someone to answer. It was Roger who finally opened the door, he was the only one left awake and threw himself against Edilio the moment he saw he was safe.

"Do you have any idea how worried I was?" Roger moaned into Edilio's shoulder, actually shivering.

"Sorry!" Edilio mumbled, wrapping his arms around him.

Anna watched them for a moment. No one else had woken up to Edilio's knock. They walked over to the many mattresses still laid out on the floor and settled down, explaining the recent events to one another. It was late and they were all tired so they didn't go into much detail about it before they lay down, curling on the floor and slipping off to dreamless sleeps...

They were all woken the next day when Sam's alarm clock was turned on by accident and they were all thrown up from their seats by the loud band screaming through the rooms. When he finally turned it off, everyone was wide awake.

Sam climbed from the bed trying to ignore the hunger in his stomach that growled loud enough for Astrid to hear. He was too tired to worry about Emily and Dekka and Quinn _and _Caine as well as keep a clear mind for normal things such as food. It was just too much. For now he needed to worry about food, then he could worry about Emily and Dekka. They were his top concern at the moment. He was glad that Edilio was back and safe and even more happy to see Anna had changed her mind and come back to help. For a moment he didn't actually believe they were kneeling in the living room before they both turned and waved at him.

Now that they were here Sam felt better with the plan. They were going to find the others, then they were going to stick together as they killed off the rest of the mutated animals.

But first they might need to split up one more time... Sam didn't want to but he knew they might not have many other choices. They were searching for four different people, some of whom might have split up due to stubbornness which would make things even more complicated if they weren't together. Only they were not going out blind and dumb like last time. This time they were going with a real plan.

"We're going to go out, Roger, Edilio and Anna as one group, me, Astrid and Diana will go as the other." Sam explained when they were all sat on the floor once more after eating breakfast. "Only now we're going to all call in every hour to let everyone know that we're okay."

"That sounds like a plan." Anna nodded. She was happy to be finally be helping rather than just passing useless information.

"We'll look for the morning, then meet up and try again in the afternoon." Sam explained.

"And if we don't find anyone all day?" Diana demanded.

Sam wished she hadn't asked that question. He really didn't want to have to answer that one, he really didn't. Because they all knew the real answer of what would happen if they didn't find them by the end of the day. They could not spend the rest of their lives looking for a couple of people that could very well be dead, at least not while there was an even more important job to be taken care of. While the mutated animals were about they had to give up. If only because after another day of searching, they had to be either dead or at least badly injured and in someone's care out of the way.

"We all know what we have to do." Sam mumbled.

They had lived in the FAYZ. They all understood things needed to be done in order to survive and save others. None of them were happy about it, least of all Sam, but they understood it.

"Let's get going then," Edilio nodded.

They once again packed a small bag each with water, food and a weapon of some sort that they could use in case they came across any mutated animals. When they were ready they stood up and left the building together. As they stepped outside they noticed it was barely morning, a chill in the air and hardly anyone was out. It was an odd day, meaning they might get some privacy in their search for the most parts of the town.

"Call in every hour." Sam reminded Edilio. "And be back here by twelve o'clock today."

"Got it." Edilio nodded.

With one final glance at one another, the two groups turned and began to walk in opposite directions. The town was too big for them to check every inch but they were going to try. Edilio, Roger and Anna walked side by side with their eyes peeled open.

They had been looking for just a few hours - calling in as promised - when they wandered down towards the posher part of the town. It was the kind of area where people like Edilio wouldn't have been allowed to cut the grass, let alone live there. But it was one of the few places that they had yet to search properly. As they walked down the pathway Edilio and Roger couldn't help but notice how all the houses looked alike and how all the houses were so clean and big. It was amazing. While Anna couldn't help but notice how the buildings and the street seemed so quiet...

"Is it..." Anna began to ask when something slipped out in front of them from what looked like a children playground.

It was a phoenix. A bright red and golden feathered phoenix floated down to land in front of the three of them, turning strange human blue eyes and even stranger little colored orbs that floated around its body coming in different sizes and shades. It turned to look at them with frighteningly sharp features and feathers like someone had drawn them with a thick marker pen so the outline would stand out more than normal.

"Is that a mutated animal?" Anna whispered.

"I think it is..." Edilio whispered back, suddenly nervous. He slowly reached into the bag and pulled out the large kitchen knife. Anna and Roger quickly picked up their own weapons, a smaller kitchen knife and the remains of a length of wood that was broken from the fence.

"Do we know who it is?" Roger asked quietly.

Edilio shook his head, trying to think but the creature hadn't shown their power yet... Unless that was what the orbs were but who had the power to create little colored balls? Then he looked into the eyes and realised so quickly his head snapped back slightly. He saw who the phoenix was straight away when he looked at his strange human child blue eyes and understood why there were little orbs around the bird. Sam and Astrid had both explained about what they were, well mostly Astrid had - these avatars - but he hadn't really thought about them or this particular mutant since getting out of the FAYZ. Edilio glanced around, feeling sick to his stomach as he took a step back, pushing Roger and Anna back as he moved. There was no way. There was no way they could beat this mutant. Maybe if it was someone else, anyone else, then they might stand a chance but there was no way they could beat this one.

"Who is it, Edilio?" Roger hissed as he began to push them back.

Edilio swallowed and glanced back. "It's Little Pete."

Anna and Roger's faces dropped as they all looked back at the creature in front of them. It was definitely the young boys eyes. And then they understood Edilio's fear. There was no way to beat the blood thirsty animal version of Little Pete.

**G*O*N*E**

"Who are we looking for?" Diana asked, she looked nervous, glancing around constantly and gripping her own hands tightly.

"Whoever we find." Sam shrugged.

"I want to go to the police station and see if Caine is anywhere near there." Diana announced.

"Diana we shouldn't split up." Sam explained. The truth was he would have been fine with that but he felt he should at least pretend to put up a fight for Diana to stay with them.

Diana saw the lack of resistance in his eyes and nodded ever so slightly as a thank you. "I'm going." She announced.

Astrid looked up just as Diana turned and ran down the down street, Astrid shouted after her but Diana paid her no attention. She had to find Caine. That was all she cared about.

Sam sighed as Astrid turned to look for him, probably looking for answers as to why he hadn't stopped her. He stared back at her and shrugged. Truthfully he might have tried to stop her but he knew just as much as anyone else that if it were Astrid or himself that was missing then the other would ignore everyone else and go off on their own to find them. Sam didn't feel like he had the right to demand she stay with them. He checked his phone, he had plenty of credit and battery so when Edilio called him next he would remember to give Diana a call and make sure she was okay. That was all he could do for her.

"Good luck, Diana." Sam whispered, then took Astrid's hand and continued to walk down the town.

Astrid and Sam had planned to search around the more public places to find the others in case they were hidden from the crowds somewhere. It was Astrid's idea go door to door and actually asked people if they had seen them on the way. Most people said no but a few seemed to have to think which gave them some sort of hope. They had walked down the busier streets asking people but even those that did recognized the descriptions they couldn't say where or when they saw them. Astrid thanked them and then they went to the next house. A few people were much less polite and told them where to go before slamming the door in their faces at the early hour... These were the people that had Sam worried for if Caine might run into them with powers.

"Let's try the town center," Astrid advised. "They might have stumbled there."

It was thin and extremely unlikely but they were clinging to thin ideas at the moment. So they started down towards the town center, the one closest to their home that also happened to be the most popular. Already in the morning there were people running back and forth with bags full and arms clinging to children and siblings. Sam hesitated but then let Astrid begin to pull him along, asking occasional people if they had seen anything while looking in and out of the gaps in between each of the shops. Once again it seemed like they were coming up empty...

And then the screams came. This time it was a little girls so Sam was slow to react. He started to ignore it when they heard more screaming, this time from a lot of people at once.

Astrid glanced his way before they both ran towards the screaming. It was coming from the large shopping building at the end of the street, one of those serious shopping centers that held about fifty other shops on the inside. If the outside was crowded then the inside was full. Most people were running away, pushing Sam and Astrid with no care as they trampled friends and family in their attempt to leave, most were unharmed but Sam saw one or two bleeding badly from various wounds.

"AH!"

Sam glanced back as Astrid fell to the floor, people stomping on her as they ran for the glass doors. Immediately Sam turned and began to battle his way through, kicking and punching those out of his way as he struggled, falling down beside of Astrid and trying to pull her to her feet. Every time he tried to stand someone else knocked him down and half a dozen people began to stomp on him. Sam threw himself over Astrid, protecting her and tripping a few more people up so they lay on the ground with them before the crowds finally slowed long enough for Sam and Astrid to climb to their feet and push themselves against the shop walls as the crowd rushed in front of them.

Sam glanced at her. Astrid's hair looked like it hadn't been brushed, her denim jeans were torn along the knee and her light blue long sleeves t-shirt was now stained with muddy footprints. Her lip was bleeding and she would probably be bruised completely in the few next days - so would Sam - but other than that she was okay.

"Are you ready?" Sam gasped.

"Let's go!" Astrid nodded sharply, wiping the blood on the back of her wrist.

They started moving again, this time keeping close to the shop walls and windows further into the shopping center. Luckily it was on the ground floor, still clear due to the screams still coming loud as ever that they followed. As they got close Astrid grabbed her weapon, a rusty kitchen pipe, while Sam lifted his own kitchen knife, the largest that they had. Weapons wouldn't do much but they could slow whatever it was down.

All hope of slowing it down drained from Sam as soon as they turned around a shop and saw, in the very center of the mall, Gaia stood.

She looked exactly the same as before only now her front, hands and feet were covered in fresh dripping blood. At her feet were three bodies, two grown men in their thirties, one with a missing arm and another with a hole through his chest, and a young girl no more than six with her body cut diagonally in half by the shoulder down to her hip. Standing just a few feet away from them was a ginger eight year old girl and a brown haired four year old backing away slowly but they were cornered under a set of escalators with no where else to go. There was also a black woman dressed Starbucks uniform that was trying to stand but only making it onto one knee, waving a plastic chair in front of her, trying to protect the two children as Gaia advanced on them but one of her legs were missing and she already looked faint.

The young girl screamed and sobbed, hugging the boy behind her as she tried to push them both into the escalator in hopes of pushing through and escaping. The young boy was pale and too shocked to even cry or cry for help. Gaia stepped forward and raised her hand, a burning light already building as she touched the eight year old girls eyes and burning through them, turning her blind like she had Kevin.

Before Sam could do anything Astrid was screaming and running forward ahead of him. He quickly followed, knowing it was crazy but unable to stand by and watch the two children die so painfully. Astrid hit Gaia around the back of the head, distracting her before she turned to face them. She was more annoyed than hurt. The woman had somehow managed to drag herself over and pulled the boys arm, shouting at him to run. Soon the boy dragged the girl away from the scene towards the doors with everyone else. The girls eyes were bleeding, she covered them and sobbed, stumbling blind and following the younger boy. The woman looked up at Sam, tears in her eyes. Sam nodded at her. It felt important to let her know she did good, she saved the kids, just before she slumped to the ground, bleeding out the rest of her life.

**G*O*NE**

Her injuries were obviously not naturally but thanks to Taylor she was able to move without passing out because they were healing naturally. Lana walked into the hallway - or limped and stumbled - where the Sekhmet was on the top floor just wandering around with no purpose. Lana was carrying two guns now and a shotgun she saved for special emergencies on her shoulder and strapped to her hips. She stepped carefully, standing in open sight and lifted the gun up to aim. One fire and the Sekhmet was hit square in the back of the shoulders, forced down onto one knee. It looked up at Lana just as she fired again and hit it in the face, this time she was prepared and didn't flinch. Once again the bullets did nothing but Lana hadn't expected them to this time and prepared to fire again as the creature climbed onto it's feet. It moved towards her, slowly. Lana's heart began to race as she swallowed and lifted the gun to fire again, hoping to at least slow her down but every hit was like a spec of dust that the creature easily brushed off and barely reacted to.

Lana shivered from fear and took a breath to calm down, lifting the gun and firing quickly three more times before the Sekhmet was on her. She brought the gun around and hit it with the handle on the chin but it merely turned it's head to the side at the force before looking back at her. Lana wanted to scream but instead she done the next stupidest thing. She tackled the Sekhmet down onto the ground, trying to pin it down, gripping its wrists to keep from being touched again.

Then Taylor appeared standing over her. She lit a firework and stuck it behind the Sekhmet, then disappeared again. Lana hesitated just long enough for the light to go right down before she jumped up and ran down the corridor as fast as her broken body would carry her. She was still thrown forward when the firework went off with a bang and hit the ground hard, opening old wounds and nearly making her pass out from her newly broken and bandaged arm. When she next looked up Taylor was standing over her. They both glanced over to where the carpet and walls were now burning with scorch marks but the Sekhmet stood, no mark on her.

"No..." Lana croaked. She stood, grabbing a firework off Taylor's belt, lighting it and throwing it at the Sekhmet. The creature deliberately caught the firework in her hand, holding it while it went off and burned more of the corridor, filling the area with smoke. Once again she was unharmed. "NO!"

The Sekhmet looked down at the fire burning the wallpaper and the carpet and then up at Lana and Taylor, this time she looked angry, like she was upset at them for destroying the walls and flooring of the place. Then, she charged and Lana jumped to the side to avoid her. Taylor disappeared and the Sekhmet turned with furious eyes. No more pain, she was going to kill Lana.

**G*O*N*E**

Jill and Derek both tried to run away but it was useless, as soon as the siren started to sing they both were frozen and forced to listen to it sing. They had tried to capture it but the creature had easily spotted them and even if it was Jill's power it still attacked them. As soon as it began to sing its new song, something dark this time, they felt the power over them, then it began to tell the two of them to hurt each other. Jill cried openly with silent tears as she moved to Derek and they wrapped their hands around one another's throat.

But before they could squeeze the life from their sibling, a shriek filled the air and broke the pavement and walls around them. They fell to the ground painfully hard. Jill screamed as Derek covered her body with his, protecting her like he hadn't in the FAYZ. When they next looked up the fox was back and this time it had gotten the upper hand on the other nimal. The siren was lying on the side of the road, badly injured from where the foxes sonic waves had hit her but she was somehow still alive and stood, turning to glare at the the fox and opening her mouth, ready to sing again.

"Derek... Derek I change my mind." Jill sobbed into his chest. "I... I want to go home!"

Derek hugged Jill and they began to crawl away from the animals on their stomachs. The fox shrieked again and the pavement broke away as the sonic wave burned through the concrete, ripping it up, hitting the siren and throwing it back once more as its body was attacked. Jill screamed and clutched her own torso, she knew it was just her imagination but when she watched the siren get hit it felt like her own body was being beaten.

This was a bad idea. This was a bad idea! She sobbed and clung to Derek as he tried to pull them towards the nearest house. They needed to hide, they needed to hide!

The siren began to sing quickly now and the fox hesitated as its body was frozen once more but so were Jill and Derek. The siren couldn't hold them like that forever. And once it had killed the fox, it would have Derek and Jill kill each other too.

"Why isn't anyone helping us?" Jill sobbed. For some reason, even though the siren sang, it only controlled their bodies and not their minds. "Someone help us."

"Someone..." Derek whispered, he clung to Jill and tried to shout but the sirens spell kept his body ridiculously relaxed while his mind continued to panic. "Someone help us. Where are the adults? Why won't they help us?"

"SOMEONE!" Jill somehow screamed and sobbed as the siren began to move towards them, deciding to finish them off first.

Seconds before she was close enough to do any damage, the fox broke free of her hold and screamed their way. The wave once again crashed through the road and pavement, tearing it apart like an animal. Derek grabbed Jill and they rolled out of the way just in time but still his back was burned and his top torn to pieces before they were out of the way in time and watched the siren get hit once more and thrown away. They glanced back and Jill screamed. The siren had stopped moving and now the fox was moving on them.

**G*O*N*E**

Halfway back to the town a police car followed though she didn't know what she could have done to give them a reason and Dekka had to use her powers to make it crashed into a tree. She hoped the officer was okay but knew she had no time to worry about him or to stop and get told off for driving without a license. Even if she had it, she still wouldn't have stopped because that would have wasted time. What she needed to worry about was getting back to the others now. Dekka speed up slightly but not much since it was late and she was beyond tired from lack of sleep. She didn't feel it much, somehow her adrenaline was keeping her awake so that she couldn't have slept even if she wanted to but she was still worried about drifting off.

By the time she made it to the town it was morning, she was still not tired and moved even faster through the town heading for the apartment buildings. She didn't get very far before she spotted someone she thought she recognized heading in the same direction as she was. It was Diana.

"Diana!" Dekka shouted out the open window to call for her.

Diana blinked, glancing over at the car. She hesitated but then she saw Dekka's face and hurried over to where the car parked. "Dekka! Where the bloody hell have you been?!" She demanded, not even waiting for an invitation before climbing into the car passenger seat.

"Long story." Dekka said, driving again. This time she drove to Diana's instructions without question, moving in and out of the streets at random while Diana stuck her head outside the window. She was just glad to found someone who she could warn to about Drake. "Basically Emily and I found Drake slash Brittney's mutated animal. If that's what you could call it. It wasn't an animal, it was a hydra like from the old Hercules shows? Emily managed to lure it to the ocean while I got my powers back but she was hurt and I got her to transport us back to Connie's home. Sam's mum. She's taking care of her and I had to drive back."

Dekka noticed that Diana really was distracted for whatever, she hadn't questioned why Dekka didn't just let Emily teleport her back. Or maybe she knew she just didn't think Emily could. Or maybe she just didn't care.

"Drake? Drake and Brittney?" Diana asked distractedly.

"Yeah! I don't know how the hell we're supposed to beat them?! I mean what are we supposed to do?! What are their fears? And how do we put them on something their size. I think it's near impossible." Dekka shouted, angry.

"We'll cross that bridge when we come to it." Diana growled.

"What are you looking for?" Dekka scowled when Diana refused to bring her head back into the car.

"Caine!" Diana hissed.

"Where is he?" Dekka asked and then winced. Stupid question. Thankfully Diana didn't bring her up on it. "I mean what happened to Caine?"

"He ran off the idiot! We have to find him before Ripley does!" Diana snapped.

Dekka didn't argue with her, she just picked up speed and hurried down the street, now keeping her eyes open for any sign of movement. She knew she needed to warn the others but even just warning Diana was enough to put some of her nerves at ease.

They wandered around the town before passing the apartment just once when they spotted him about to head inside. Caine was strolling down the street, not bothered in the slightest by it being daylight or that everyone was looking for him. Or that he wasn't even covered so if anyone saw him then they would instantly know who he was. In fact he didn't even see them until Dekka stopped the car on the side of the road and Diana jumped out before it had stopped moving to jump in his way.

"Caine you-!" Diana began but couldn't think of anything to say and instead shoved him backwards hard.

"Oh... Hey... Diana, where did you come from?" Caine asked casually, blinking at her.

Dekka climbed out the car as Diana opened her mouth to say something - scream something more like it - but nothing came out. Instead Diana was staring at something that had he looking terrified. Dekka frowned, turning slightly, expecting to see a mutated animal but instead saw Ripley. He appeared and slammed her car door shut behind her so she couldn't get back in and run, smirking at them. He looked like he hadn't slept all night either, but he looked so pleased anyway, beaming down at them and even laughing after a moment as Diana tried desperately to hide Caine behind her back.

"Now are you really going to try and hide him?" Ripley chuckled. "I mean now? This can go the easy way, or the hard way? And yes I just said the easy way or the hard way. We could all get in this car, I'll drive you to the station and you just make a statement answering all our questions, or I could arrest you all forcibly and then bring everyone else to you and your friends as well as scientists and news reporters."

Diana blinked. He didn't know Caine had powers then. Before Caine could blow it for them she gave him a nudge to keep him quiet and nodded her head at Ripley. "We'll come." She announced before hissing behind her. "Don't use your powers. Find a way to make it look like an accident while we're heading to the station and we can get away."

Caine glared at Ripley but nodded slowly and allowed himself, along with Diana and Dekka, to be herded into the back of the car, Ripley taking the drivers seat and locking all the doors. He continued to grin and laugh like Christmas had come early. For the whole way he continued to either laugh aloud or talk to them about how easy it was to catch them and how they were only freaky little children that should have been killed as soon as the anomaly came down. Caine was itching to throwing him through the windscreen but Diana grabbed his hands and made him wait. They needed the perfect time to make it not just seem like an accident... But to also make sure it killed him.

Diana didn't like when Caine let children die when they were in the FAYZ, she didn't even like the idea of letting good adults die but Ripley was not a good adult. He was evil. And he deserved death when it came for him. And it would be coming soon, Diana would make sure of that.

They were halfway there, Diana nudged Dekka to get ready. She had written the plan onto her phone for Dekka who immediately agreed. Even Dekka didn't seem to care about Ripley's life. They were close now. Dekka would stop gravity on the car, lifting it up just slightly enough for it to bounce and jump, leaving Ripley to think something was wrong with it and hopefully the banging might actually get him to either slow or stop. Then Caine would stop the car completely and throw Ripley forward at the same time like the car was faulty. If it came to it they could damage the engine before any other officers showed up and claim it was a tragic accident...

Yeah, Diana thought with a sneer, real tragic.

However before they could go through with the plan something else entered the playing field.

"Oh no... No..." Dekka croaked, staring at something in front of them as Ripley slowed to a stop, also shocked into silence that he finally stopped asking how Caine faked his death. For a moment Diana didn't know what it was. It was too big to see without leaning forward but then she realised... It was the Drake/Brittney Hydra. It was back! And it was heading right for them!

* * *

**43) What theme song would you give for the fight scenes?  
**

**While writing this I listened to "Rise" by Skillet... For some reason the music just seemed to go perfect for the fighting scenes. Is it just me?**

**Also, sorry if updates slow. My computer broke so I have to share my mums and had only get on it for so long.**


	26. Chapter 26

"Run... Turn around slowly and then run." Edilio whispered to them.

Little Pete moved towards them, it walked slowly with incredible grace and the small orbs following around of it. For some reason Roger were surprised he was walking on the ground and not floating like some horrific demon ghost you saw in old horror movies. Anna and Roger began to do as they were told, turning but still trying to look over their shoulder at Little Pete. None of them were willing to take their eyes off of him. Little Pete seemed to be thinking along the same way and watched them closely as he continued to move forwards.

"Go." Edilio whispered.

"What about you?" Roger growled.

"Just go." Edilio hissed.

Roger didn't seem happy about it but he trusted Edilio and slowly began to turn around completely. Anna was already ready to run as fast as she could, crouched slightly with her fists clenched at her side. They held it for a moment, Edilio refusing to turn around until he was sure Roger and Anna would be safe.

"Run!" Edilio hissed.

Anna shot ahead, her feet pounding on the pavement that echoed along the empty streets, as she ran with Roger trailing just a few steps behind. They ran back down the way they came, heading for the open area where they could escape to the busy town while Edilio blocked Little Pete's way and began to back away quickly watching him. But Little Pete did not chase after them, instead he just watched them.

And then Anna screamed. Edilio looked around and saw the shaded avatar orbs surrounding her, keeping her from running or moving anywhere. It did similar to Roger, trapping them.

Edilio gasped and looked at Little Pete who was glaring at them. He hesitated then charged at Little Pete, no hope of actually hurting him but hoping to distract him so that the others could get away. He slashed with his knife but Little Pete turned to him and Edilio vanished and suddenly appeared in the air. He screamed as he dropped and hit the roof of a nearby house hard, knocking the air from his lungs and bruising his torso as he tried to choke down some oxygen. He somehow managed to grab on to the tilt of the top before he slipped and fell to the ground bellow. When he looked over, Little Pete, Roger and Anna were on the other end of the street. Little Pete had gotten rid of him to deal with the others.

Anna was trying to break free but the orbs hovered around her, they were hard and cold as ice blocks and whenever she touched one, another threw itself at her with hard force. One hit her hard in the eye and she clutched it, shaking as the pain hit. Roger had a bleeding nose but kept trying, throwing himself at the orbs and having several beat into his back and his shoulder blades at once. There were so many of them surrounding them they could barely see anything other than the orbs.

Little Pete moved towards of Anna first, it glared at her and lifted a feathered wing ready to kill her. Anna shrieked at the orbs and tried to move but instead one of the orbs hit the back of her neck and she was thrown forward against more of the orbs which then began to attack her legs, tripping her onto more than the hit her again and again. Little Pete lifted his wing and a storm began to pull together, dark clouds gathering together over heads that blocked out the light with thunder blaring down over them.

Scrambling to crawl towards the edge, Edilio looked for a way down off the roof of the house. He glanced around but there didn't seem to be anything to help him. He patted himself but his knife was missing, he must have dropped it. He shivered and fought back goose bumps as he began to crawl, hovering over the edge of the roof by his fingertips and trying to catch his feet onto the windowsill. He struggled, and moved down slowly, making sure to cling to the thin gaps of each of the bricks and crawled until he could grab a hold of the window sill and drop his legs further again. He moved as fast as he dared but it didn't feel fast enough.

Meanwhile the clouds continued to gather above of Anna where she was still trapped. The thunder was growling louder and Edilio realised it was the same power that Little Pete had used against Gaia when he was in Caine's body. To kill her. He was going to kill Anna.

"No," Edilio gasped, struggling to hold on. He looked down and was still quite high up but...

He let go. The drop was quick and Edilio fell hard on his leg, rolling and lying on his back. He gasped, trying to get his breath back when he saw the first crack of lightning. It shot down and cracked on the ground just feet away from Anna. She didn't seem to have noticed, still trying to push the orbs away.

Edilio forced himself up and began to run down the street, screaming in both pain and fear as adrenaline somehow kept him up and trying to get the Phoenix's attention. But it was fixed on Anna, lightning now coming barely feet away from her. She had noticed now and was frozen in fear unable to move or fight anymore, Roger was still shouting but it wasn't doing any good.

"Stop!" Edilio screamed, pushing himself. He ran fast and pushed himself more than ever before.

He had no plan, no idea on what else to do and so when he finally reached them he ran straight at Phoenix, pushing him and throwing him to the ground. He rolled and scrambled to his feet, running for Anna and Roger. The orbs were still in place but when Edilio slammed into them from the outside the broke apart and gave Anna and Roger a chance to run as they went back to where Little Pete was picking himself up off the floor and seemed to be helping him.

"Move! Move!" Edilio snapped even though they were already running on their own.

They all ran towards the closest building and around it to the open back garden. There was an expensive multicolored climbing set that they crawled underneath to hide and crouched, none of them allowing the horrible thought of where all the people who lived in this street were. They would be dead. Including the children who once played in this very garden.

"What do we do?" Anna gasped, tears filling her eyes. Part of her wished she had never come back to help.

"Stay here. I'm calling Sam." Edilio gasped, pulling out his cellphone from his pocket, thankful for the zipper that kept it in place during the fall and run.

"Sam!" Edilio gasped. "Sam we have a problem! We're trapped and we facing off against the animal version of Little Pete!"

**G*O*N*E**

"We're kind of busy at the moment." Sam shouted down the phone and ran towards the nearest store.

Astrid ducked and waved the pipe in front of her but Gaia deflected it and sent another beam of light at her face which she barely managed to duck out the way from a third time. Gaia had immediately gone for Astrid for hitting her but Astrid was able to avoid her so far however Sam could see it in her face that she was growing tired now and couldn't keep it up for much longer.

Sam promised Edilio he would get to him as soon as they were done dealing with Gaia but they both knew it was a hollow promise. If they did somehow get away from Gaia not badly injured enough to actually help there was nothing they could do against Little Pete. It was like the top most powerful monsters had come back at the same time just to mess with them and cause them more trouble.

He hung up and came back from the shop, now with a thick world record book that he threw at Gaia, missing but getting her attention. He lifted his knife up and reached behind. He had also gotten a smaller pen knife from the desk of the shop hidden in his waist band but he wasn't sure how that was supposed to help him if the kitchen knife didn't. Sam swallowed his fear and ran straight at Gaia. He only got a few feet when he was lifted up into the air along with Astrid. They were thrown against one another, skulls colliding painfully hard before dropped to the ground in a heap. Sam gasped and began to drag away, pulling Astrid along with him.

"Sam!" Astrid snapped, getting on her hands and knees and slapping him across the face hard.

"What was that for?" Sam yelped, trying to lift the knife in defense as Gaia approached them.

"What are you using that knife for?" Astrid demanded.

Sam blinked at her, struggling to his feet and confused. Astrid slapped the knife from his hands and pulled his fingers up so his palm was facing Gaia.

"OH!" Sam said.

He had lived normal for so long he forgot about his powers. Sam kicked the knife to Astrid's feet so she could use it and aimed both hands at Gaia, firing the light so it hit her directly in the chest. It drove her back right into the shop window, smashing the glass and leaving her lying on the floor but there was no visible injury and seconds later she was back on her feet with broken glass clattering at her feet.

"Fire again! Keep firing!" Astrid insisted.

Sam had barely lifted his hands when Astrid was being thrown through the air and held in front of Gaia like a human shield by an invisible hand. Sam gasped and was forced to drop his hands down because if he fired he would hit Astrid straight on.

Astrid struggled in the air, kicking her legs at nothing and fighting the air around her but Gaia's hold was tight and impossible to break free from. Gaia actually smiled and stepped out of the shop, holding Astrid firmly in front of her as she made her way towards of Sam. She was going to kill him. He needed to find a way around Astrid but Astrid was bigger than Gaia and so worked perfectly to cover her body completely. Sam growled and tried to walk around but Gaia moved Astrid in front of her the whole time.

"Let her go!" Sam snapped. "Let her go and fight you..." Sam ran out of words and roared.

Gaia just smiled and began to move towards him again. She was only a few feet away when Astrid began to scream and struggle even more. Sam couldn't see but obviously Gaia was hurting her in some way. She clutched her temples. Gaia was tearing at her brain and pounding on the inside of her skull. Astrid felt like a fire burning and she couldn't do anything to stop the scorched area because she couldn't reach it. Her arms were dragged from her skull and forced back to her side, leaving her to scream and weep while dangling in the air. And then Gaia lifted a burning hand and reached for Astrid, meaning to burn a hole through the back of her skull.

Sam didn't know what to do. Then thought quickly. He lifted his hands up to the ceiling while Gaia was distracted and sent a burning light through the cement ceiling. He moved it around, cutting across the area and broke it to pieces. It didn't take long, he could make his light as scorching hot as the sun with just a thought now and soon the ceiling cracked and broke away, falling down. The cement fell down over Gaia where she was still a few feet away from Astrid, leaving her unharmed. It landed on her with a crash and crushed her body, cement along with large bookcases and books crashed with a sound that almost deafened them in the room.

As soon as Gaia was crushed under the rubble, Astrid was released and dropped to the floor in a huddle, crying as Sam ran to her side and pulled her up into a hug. She sobbed into her shoulder, hugging him and shivering.

"It's okay." Sam whispered, kissing her cheek and forehead, the only parts he could touch since the rest of her refused to pull away from him.

Sam held her for a few minutes. He hadn't realised he was shaking so much and pushed her away long enough to kiss her on the lips, then hugged her again. He had been so scared for her. But it was alright now. It was okay...

The sound of rubble scrabbling against the ground pulled Sam back to the great pile on the floor as it began to move. The two bookcases that had come down were broken in half and slid down the mound onto the floor along with the broken chunks of cement. It left a horrible scraping banging sound as everything moved together. Astrid finally pulled away on her own and turned, sobbing as books and blocks scraped against one another off of the monster onto the ground as Gaia slowly stood up, barely a scratch on her but an angry look in her eyes. She opened her mouth and a sound like a child pretending to be a dog and growling came as she stepped up onto the rubble and walked towards of them, her wings twitching and her hands both glowing as light built.

"What do we do?" Astrid whispered, backing away and limping from an unknown injury.

"Run."

"What?" Astrid sobbed.

"RUN!"

Sam pushed her ahead of him towards the escalators. They began to run up the moving stairs with Gaia following behind of them. She could have stopped them any time she wanted, lifting them and pulling them back to her but she seemed to be happy with letting them run in fear and lifted into the air, her wings carrying her up the escalators slowly with her feet just an inch above the ground. Astrid struggled to stay on her own feet, already the bruises seemed to be showing and Sam made sure to stay behind her. He waved his hand behind of him roughly without aiming, just guessing where Gaia was following and shot random lights her way.

If she was hit it didn't slow her down. She followed along as the two ran down along the many shops where many people were still hiding including plenty of children. They were not hiding very well but thankfully Gaia was only interested in following Sam and Astrid and not attacking random bystanders. She wasn't that smart then, if she was then she could have used the people to draw Sam to a stop.

"Get them out." Sam gasped as they ran down, terrified of running out of room. "You run around and start getting everyone out of here. I'll hold Gaia back. The best we can hope is if we can bring this whole building down on her it might at least slow her down for a few minutes."

"Okay..." Astrid gasped and ran towards the nearest toy shop to their right where quite a few families crouched, crying together.

Gaia immediately turned as if to follow her but Sam spun around continuing to walk as fast as he could backwards and pointed his hands directly at her.

"This is for Kevin!" Sam shouted.

He set two twin lights straight towards of her face, burning the whole face including her eyes even though he knew it wouldn't work and knew he couldn't really blind her like she had Kevin. He wished he could. He wished he could blind her and cut off her arm just like she had done to his friend and he would have liked nothing more than to kill her.

But when he lowered his hands and took a breath, shivering and struggling to stay on his feet, Gaia just glared at him and wiped her face like she had a bit of dust and continued to move towards him.

**G*O*NE**

Taylor appeared behind of the Sekhmet just before she could strangle Lana to death. She stuck another smaller firework down the back of the Sekhmet's waist band, lighting it and vanished again. Lana ducked and tried to crawl away but the Sekhmet hadn't let go of her throat. In fact she had barely loosened her grip. Luckily when the firework went off it threw an unsuspecting Sekhmet forward so she let go of her and her body also acted like a shield and protected Lana from the blast.

When she was finally thrown off her into the wall with a painful cracking sound, Lana was able to roll and crawl away to where Taylor waited at the end of the corridor. She stumbled onto her feet and turned as the Sekhmet righted itself and then made its way towards of them again. It was impossible to kill! It was invisible!

Lana began to run down the stairs, struggling not to trip and break her neck on her weak injured legs. As it was she collapsed twice and it was only luck she hadn't broken her neck on the way down. Taylor kept disappearing and reappearing on every floor she passed as if guiding but otherwise didn't really help her.

Finally Lana reached the bottom and ran for the main doors. She stretched her hand out but before she could she tripped over something and sprawled along the floor. Her mind was blacked out as she landed on her broken arm but it was only for a second. Somehow she struggled back up and frowned at the something that had tripped her up. It was Ben's body. Lana gasped and struggled to back away, she glanced around and realised there was more than just one body lying on the floor in the entrance room, a few rotting, a few fresh.

Taylor appeared by her side, tugging her towards the doors but Lana quickly jerked her arm free. She stared down at Ben and stepped forward, kneeling down beside of him. He hadn't been there longer than some but he certainly wasn't new. Had he come looking for her? Had he come across here by accident? His neck was broken so had the Sekhmet killed him rather than brought back old wounds?

"I am not leaving." Lana hissed when Taylor once again tried to drag her from the building. "I am going to kill that thing whether I have to take this whole building down on both of us!"

**G*O*N*E**

"Run! Run, Jill!" Derek snapped, trying to drag her onto her feet but his back was slowing him down. He didn't know what it was but it was definitely injured and Jill was frozen with fear. "Jill! Listen to me!"

The fox opened its mouth and a sonic wave came directly at them. It rippled in the air, tearing the ground up and blurring everything around it. They screamed as one and were hit full force by the blast. The pain was incredible but somehow they were still alive. Instead they were knocked back, their clothes torn and heads cracked against broken road but they were alive! Jill was unconscious lying on her stomach with her head to the side, she was bleeding from a scrap along her forehead and a small trail of blood seeped out from her mouth but she was breathing at least. Derek had somehow managed to stay conscious but it was a struggle. He moaned from the pain of breathing and crawled towards of his sister. He was bleeding too and his body ached like... Well like he had been thrown across the road by a painful sonic wave sent by a killer mutated fox.

"No... Jill... Jilly... Wake up, Jilly." Derek moaned as the fox made it's way towards of him. He crawled, dragging his stomach and reached for her but she was still out of reach.

And then suddenly he wasn't crawling on the hard concrete ground that was sticking up and digging into his stomach anymore. He and Jill were both suddenly lying on a warm carpet of someones bedroom, a strange looking girl with her torso bandaged looking pale and shivering stood in front of them with a grown woman standing behind then, medical kit open and ready.

"What..." Derek whimpered, not understanding what happened.

"I saved your life." The girl gasped, clutching her stomach. She looked like she was in just as much pain as Derek and Jill. "You're welcome."

"Who... Who are you?" Derek mumbled, struggling to stay conscious now as the darkness began to cloud his mind. He pushed it back and concentrated.

"My name is Emily." She mumbled, having to sit down on the bed and clutch her stomach. "I was a freak in the FAYZ."

"So... So was my sister." Derek mumbled. He gasped and looked over where the woman was lying Jill on her back and checking her pulse. "My sister! Is she okay? She has to be okay!"

"She'll be fine." The woman said. "My name is Connie Temple. I'm a nurse, just hold on. You'll both be okay now."

"How did you..." Derek whimpered.

"We heard you. Hard not to. That fox was making too much noise to be naturally so I went over, saw you two and brought you back here out of harms way." Emily explained, leaning against the wall and sweating. "Hurt too since I'm injured as well in case you couldn't tell."

"Everyone will stay here now." Connie demanded, glaring at Emily.

"We were attacked..." Derek mumbled even though it seemed they knew all about it. He still had to say it aloud to understand. "By a fucking fox!"

Emily opened her mouth to say something but then there was a loud crashing sound as if a hurricane had just knocked down a house right across the street. Everyone jumped and Jill mumbled miserably in her sleep but didn't wake up. Derek gasped and slowly struggled up onto his knees. He and Emily crawled towards the window and peeked out through the window in between of the curtains into the street.

The fox was there and it looked furious. It was strange seeing serious anger on an animals face. It threw its body around, shaking its head and screaming at random houses that were immediately broken down just a few houses down from them. A few screams could be heard but thankfully a lot of houses were empty now, still it wasn't enough to silence cries and shrieks of fear and pain. The worst part was when there was a scream and then horrifying silence.

"It's going to knock down every house..." Derek whimpered.

"And it's heading right for us!" Emily snarled. "I'm going out there!"

"You're injured!" Connie snapped.

"What other choice do we have! I need to get out there! There's no one else here who can help and-" Emily began.

"Shh!" Derek hissed.

Emily turned to frown at him and then crouched, peeking out the window again. The fox had stopped on the other end of the street and now had its head turned towards of them, listening closely. Could it hear them arguing? Could it understand who was in the room? It did have animal hearing. Wasn't that a lot better than a humans?

Her questions were answered seconds later when the fox turned its body, opened its mouth and sent sonic waves straight for the house in more rippling breaking waves.

The building caved in on them. It collapsed and crushed everything inside with one big crashed falling flat with a echo of smashing that could easily be mistaken for thunder. All furniture was broken and crumbled, the walls, ceiling and anything inside collapsed down. It rocked through the town and the other families crowded together in shock of the noise with no real idea what was happening outside. The fox stared at the crushed house and smirked, there was nothing else left alive inside there now.

**G*O*N*E**

Ripley finally stopped the car to stare up at the hydra properly, climbing out and leaving the rest of them trapped in the car while he checked it out. He walked around to stare up at it in complete shock. Of course he had no idea about the weird things happening, he though Caine had somehow faked his death and that nothing but Caine coming back was different. Diana hesitated then called Sam quickly on her phone while Ripley was distracted. He answered but didn't listen.

"Diana! We have a problem! Gaia is after me and Astrid, Little Pete is going for Edilio and the others, we need your help!" Sam shouted down the phone.

Diana couldn't speak. She looked at Caine with frightened eyes. This couldn't be happening. Not now. Not like this. It just couldn't. Diana shook and Dekka eventually snatched the phone off her.

"Sam we have our own problems!" Dekka snapped down the phone. "We're facing against a hydra version of Drake and Brittney! _We_ need _your_ help!"

Sam cursed and then shouted as if he was hit, the line went dead and when Dekka tried to call back she got no answer. Dekka looked at Diana and Caine, both looking sick. Even Caine had gone pale and didn't offer any cocky answers from their fear. He looked forward where Ripley was calling in on his own phone that there was something here and they needed back up. Like that would do any good. He didn't look like the smart ass Ripley that had just been bragging about catching them now, he looked as small and scared as they all felt, eyes stuck on the hydra.

"What do we do?" Diana whispered.

Caine looked at Diana again. He swallowed, wondering if now would be a bad time to tell her that he knew why all this was happening... No. Not now. But he had to do something.

He growled. Why did it always come down to him?

Caine reached over, pushed against the door with his power and forcing it to snap the lock open before he climbed out of the car, ignoring Diana when she called after him. Ripley finished on his phone and turned to find Caine heading towards him. Instantly he growled back to his old self and stepped in his way.

"Where do you think you're going?!" He growled, hands on him and leaning over him.

"In case you didn't notice, we have a little problem." Caine snorted and pointed up towards of the hydra. "Now excuse me." He tried to step around him.

Once again Ripley stepped in his way as Diana and Dekka climbed out quickly. Diana opened her mouth and screamed for Caine but he ignored her. Dekka grabbed her and pushed her back, both backing away as the hydra came closer, both Caine and Ripley were oblivious to the monster just feet away.

"You ain't going anywhere. I'd rather die than let you get away you little freaky bastard." Ripley snarled.

Caine growled and showed his teeth. "That can be arranged."

Ripley sneered and leaned right down. "You are going down. You and your fucking whore over there. I'm going to make sure of it. But maybe before she goes down..." Ripley back handed Caine hard onto the ground, hard enough to draw blood from the corner of his lip. "... We can have a little fun while you watch. How does that sound, brat?"

"Oh..." Dekka said, still pulling Diana away from them.

"You really shouldn't have done that!" Diana shouted at him.

"Oh yeah? And what's the little freak going to do? What you gonna do?" Ripley smirked. "Nothing, that's what I thought."

Caine stood up. He was glaring at Ripley in a way that frightened even Diana. She gripped Dekka's hand, wondering if she should at least pretend to try and stop it. Then remember Ripley's comment just now changed her mind and the two girls watched as Caine lifted a hand to face Ripley.

"You ever own a dog, Ripley?" Caine snarled.

"What the fu-" Ripley frowned.

"Because I did when I was younger. My favourite thing to do was hang bacon in front of him and watched him snap at it, tearing pieces off at a time." Ripley shrieked and he was suddenly lifted into the air.

He stared down at Caine and tried to fight but he couldn't get back down. Caine pushed Ripley up into the air, higher and higher until he was just a few inches above the hydra, pushing him and dangling him by his shoulders in front of the creature. For a moment the hydra just stared at Ripley like it didn't understand what it was. Ripley shrieked and screamed, fighting to break free of Caine's grip but it was no use. Diana looked away but Dekka glared right up. The hydra had gotten close and was now in the middle of the street, looking at Ripley.

Finally, it leaned forward and took a bite.

His screams were louder and even Dekka winced and had to look down but Caine never did. He watched Ripley screaming like a girl, holding him in place before one of the heads had a good grip and he let him go, allowing the heads to fight over each of his limbs and pull him apart. Blood fell like rain and Caine watched, feeling an intense satisfaction when Ripley's screams finally went quiet.

Diana swallowed and walked over, grabbing Caine's hand. He didn't react for a moment then turned and grinned at her.

"Won't have to worry about him anymore." Caine grinned.

"Hello!" Dekka snapped. "There is still a monster behind you two!"

"Shit!" Caine swore, turning and hurrying backwards with Diana as the creature finished off the remains of Ripley.

"How do we beat it?" Diana asked.

"How should I know! Is it Drake? Is it Brittney? Who's fear do we need? Do we even know either of their fears?" Dekka snapped.

Caine stared at Dekka. His moment of triumph from killing Ripley was gone in an instant. This was because he was here. He had to kill this thing off if only for Diana. Caine looked at her. She was pale and shaking, obviously terrified but refusing to leave, not while they were ready to fight.

"Let's do it my way. Dekka, cancel gravity. Make it as strong as you can but just around their heads." Caine explained.

"Do you know what you're doing?" Dekka asked, taking a cautious step forward with him.

"Nope."

Dekka shrugged and lifted her hands out. Gravity around the creatures head was gone and instantly it looked like someone was tugging on their heads as they hovered in the air, blinking in confusion at their own heads. Caine lifted his own hands out, one directed to the heads, the other down at their body. He focused and began to pull the two apart. It was a lot of work, even with all this power he had to concentrate hard but still he would have never been able to do something like this back in the FAYZ.

Diana stood back, watching them and hoping their plan worked. There had to be some other way to kill them rather than scaring them to death. If there wasn't then all three of them knew and understood they were dead. The whole world was dead if they couldn't stop this monster.

Caine grunted and gave a final tug. Everyone of the many heads, there looked like five or six in total, ripped free from the body and were thrown up into the air.

Dekka gasped and turned on Caine. "THAT WAS YOUR PLAN?!" She shrieked. "Haven't you ever heard of a hydra?! Their heads grow back and double!"

Caine ignored her and focused on the body. It was easier the second time and he began to tear the hydra apart like ripping a piece of paper, tearing it to pieces and spraying the ground with blood. It's body parts fell to the ground in heaps and the first few screams finally began to sound when people finally saw the monster. Or maybe they had already seen it but were frozen until it was killed.

Now Dekka hesitated. Would this work? Had anyone ever tried cutting the hydra's body up before as well as the heads.

When Caine finished he let the pieces of the hydra drop down to the ground and they all stood silent for a minute. Diana stepped up and took Caine's hand again, needing to give it a squeeze and feel reassured that this might actually work. It could work. It could!

"I think..." Dekka began but then fell silent.

The hydra stood. Not only was its body melting back together but now it had ten to twelve heads twisting and turning around as it locked its eyes on the three of them. Diana let out a sob and more screaming could be heard, all from closer to the hydra. The street they were on was empty and they began to back away towards the car.

"We have to go!" Diana snapped, running for the car.

"Not yet!" Caine snarled.

"Caine!" Diana snapped but her ignored her. Instead he turned around and pointed his hands to one of the extra cars. With a flick he threw the car and put as much pressure as he could to stab the monster in its chest but instead the car crashed and fell to the floor like it had hit a brick wall. It began to storm towards them and Diana again tried to pull Caine away.

"What do we do?" Dekka growled.

"Hey, have you ever tried adding gravity instead of cancelling it? Like making it heavier for things?" Caine asked. He had to think. There had to be another way to beat it.

"No." Dekka frowned. "I never could before."

"Our powers are a lot stronger now. Try. Concentrate." Caine lifted both hands and pushed the hydra away. It skidded but quickly brushed it off and moved forward again.

Dekka nodded and pointed her hands forward. She tried to concentrate. Caine turned and lifted more hands towards cars, then towards the new unoccupied houses. He was surprised how easy all of it was to rip the house up and slam them down hard on the creatures heads, as if trying to help Dekka crush it. After a moment the hydra slowed down and did squat by an unknown weight.

"Oh my god," Diana whispered. "It's working!"

"Yes!" Caine grinned. This was good. This was good!

But then the hydra roared and used one of its claws to throw one of the cars that Caine had tried to use their way. Diana shrieked and Caine grabbed her and jumped to the side with Dekka, falling out of the way and hitting the ground hard. They shouted and looked up as Connie's car was crushed and destroyed under the second one. There goes driving away.

"Move! We have to run!" Diana snapped. "We can't beat it!"

"Then what are we supposed to do?!" Dekka snapped.

"Run!"

"But it will chase up, Diana!" Dekka snapped. "We'll never be safe! Any of us! Even if they catch this thing they will know something is up and we'll all get locked up again, me, Caine, Sam even you! We have to kill it now! If we don't kill it now then you die or your get locked up in a lab and die in there!"

Caine shut his eyes. No. This wasn't fair. This wasn't fair. He just got back, he just had Diana again. They shouldn't have to be responsible for this. They should have to worry about this. It wasn't fair!

"Caine..." Diana whispered.

He was crying, he could feel it but he didn't look up or try to stop. This wasn't fucking fair!

"CAINE!"

Diana and Dekka grabbed him and they jumped out of the way as the hydra slammed down on the spot where they had once been. The hydra was close now. They had to make up their mind. Fight to the death, or run and live even for only one more day.

Caine slumped in their arms and gave up. It wasn't fair but he had to protect Diana.

"Dekka... Keep that thing busy. I have a plan." Caine growled.

He grabbed Diana's hands and they ran towards one of the nearest houses, going inside as Dekka shouted protest behind of them.

"Caine? What's your plan?" Diana gasped.

Caine wanted to say something, do something to show her he cared and he was sorry. But instead he just sighed and looked her way.

"... I need you to kill me." Caine stated.

* * *

**44) Was Ripley's death satisfying enough?  
**

**SOOOOO close to the end now! Like two chapters!  
**


	27. Chapter 27

"What... What the hell are you saying?!" Diana asked, shaking and so confused she couldn't even bring herself to shout at him.

Outside Dekka was lifting the hydra in the air. She cancelled gravity until she could no longer see the thing, then let it go and ran back a safe distance. She was furious at them for abandoning her and was relying on hope that they didn't just abandon her completely and were going to come back. The hydra landed and Dekka was thrown forward by the force that felt like a great earthquake. Anything else would have been road kill but the hydra was already walking towards her again. She tried to crush it but was inexperienced and couldn't hold down gravity for long before it broke free and was heading for her again.

"I haven't told you everything." Caine mumbled.

"What do you mean?" Diana whispered, feeling suddenly cold as if she already knew what he was going to say.

Dekka growled and tried to trip it like she had with Taylor back when she was annoying her in the FAYZ. It worked but then she had to duck out of the way and roll before the falling creature crushed her under its weight. She jumped up and ran around behind it, hoping to confuse it but its many other heads that hadn't cracked against the ground watched her and soon it was standing and turning to face her again.

"The truth is... I know why I am here now. I had my dream and I understood it all. The truth is that Little Pete wanted to thank me for letting me help him kill Gaia and then find peace when he died afterwards... The truth is that he sent me back with the last of the power he had left. It's why I'm actually younger than when I actually died. Because he sent me back when I was at my most healthy." Caine explained.

"So... What the hell does that have to do with you killing yourself?!" Diana snapped.

Dekka couldn't help but wonder about Emily fighting the hydra. This was how she was nearly killed by it. And she had the power to jump out of the way at the last second! Dekka wouldn't last much longer! She had to... She had to do something! Would they hurry up in there!

"He sent me back only something went wrong. I know now. I understand it all now because of my dream so I know why these animals are here. They're here to right the wrong." Caine explained.

"Right what wrong?!"

"The wrong of me being alive again." Caine went on. "I was never meant to come back alive again. I was dead. I was meant to stay dead but Pete broke the universal law by sending me back here. That's why these animals are here. They're here as punishment from trying to rewrite the laws of the universe. Mutated animals from those that died were just blood thirsty because they had no human parts to hold onto. Mutated animals from those alive are less deadly and so instead just defend their territory. My animal was neither and so his goal was to find me and make things right."

"Are you saying what I think you're saying?" Diana whispered.

"It all came back to me in my dream." Caine explained.

"What are you saying?!" Diana demanded.

"I am saying, that I think I know how to make things right. I think that if I die then all these animals will too and everything will go back to normal." Caine explained.

The hydra shrieked from outside and Caine looked out the window. Dekka was running down the street, clearly exhausted. He knew he should speed it up but he didn't care about her and instead decided to take his time explaining it to Diana. He wanted to take his time saying goodbye to her.

"Caine that's crazy." Diana snarled.

"No, I-"

"You think! You think! You don't know! You're the strongest guy we have here. We can't just kill you on the off chance it will stop everything." Diana snapped.

"Fine then. I don't think. I know."

"You guess! How can you ask me to do that! I mean even if you're right! How can you seriously ask me to do something like that. Why not ask Dekka, why not ask anyone else or do it yourself, why would you seriously ask me to do something that might or might not work?!" Diana shouted.

"Because I can't do it. I'll chicken out. I know I will." Caine shrugged and smiled. "It's horrible to ask this of you but I had to."

"No. This isn't true. You're guessing and you're probably wrong anyway!"

"DIANA! CAINE! GET YOUR BUTTS OUT HERE!" Dekka screamed.

She was growing tired and running and could only hide for a few seconds before the hydra found her and she needed to run again.

Caine looked at the door and then back at Diana. He reached over and took out the knife she kept in her backpack, pushing the handle into his hand.

"Why... Just tell me why you are doing this to me again?" Diana whispered, crying.

Caine looked down then up at her again. "I'm sorry. I am. But I am doing this for you. I am doing this to save you. Dekka's right. We have no way of killing this thing and without a way to kill it we're just going to die or end up as experiments. This all needs to go away now. We need to get rid of them now."

Diana shook her head, throwing the knife down onto the ground with a clatter and glaring at him. Caine stared back at her, ridiculously calm for what he was asking her to do. She hated him for asking her this. She hated him for having to leave again. She just got him back in a normal life where it might seem like they could make it and now he was asking her to do the worst thing he could ever ask.

"I refuse."

"Diana! Do this for me! I don't give a shit about Sam or Astrid or Edilio that wet back or his queer boyfriend or that stupid girl whose name I can't even be bothered to remember! I am doing this for you...!"

**G*O*N*E**

_"Do you think I want to die?"_

It didn't take him long before he found them hiding. Anna shrieked and Edilio stabbed Roger's smaller knife into his face but it bounced off like it had hit metal and instead his wrist just twisted to the side. Little Pete shrieked and a clawed foot grabbed Edilio by the shoulder, lifting him up into the air while his orbs surround the others and left them helplessly battling again. The bird lifted Edilio but somehow he twisted and kicked, forcing it to let him go before he was too high. He landed on the slide and slipped down, hurrying around to free Roger and Anna from the orbs again.

"What we do?!" Anna sobbed.

"Just keep running!" Edilio shouted.

_"Do you honestly think that I want to die after everything I- we have been through?"_

Little Pete's orbs began to stalk them and they pushed themselves harder to get away from them, Anna was openly sobbing as she stumbled to stay on her feet. Roger looked like he wanted to cry but somehow held it back and ran beside of Edilio. Little Pete was going to attack them any minute now and they were unable to defend themselves because none of them had any powers!

"Keep running!" Edilio gasped and realised he was crying too. "Just keep running!"

_"No one wants to bloody die! No matter what they say... When they say I'm not afraid of death its bullshit because everyone is afraid deep down!"_

Edilio collapsed and Anna ran ahead of them for the fence. Roger stopped, grabbing Edilio and dragging him back onto his feet, pulling him along and they began to run again. They hurried until they felt like they were going to collapse at any moment and still kept going. Little Pete followed, flying now and making horrible shrieking sounds as he followed them. His orbs stalked them too, dashing along and swirling around their faces to distract them as soon as they were close enough.

Anna sobbed and beat at them, tripping and falling into the road. She started to crawl, trying to force herself up but the energy was leaving her and she was weak. Then Roger and Edilio were behind her, grabbing her and pulling her back up as they ran from one house to the next.

"Hide! Split up and hide!" Edilio cried, struggling to breath.

_"No one wants to die..."_

"I don't want to die." Anna sobbed.

"Hide!" Edilio snapped.

They split up, running in three different directions. Little Pete, confused, paused long enough for them each to disappear. Even his orbs paused at his hesitance. By the time he was moving again they were all hidden.

Anna crawled under a bed in a downstairs spare room, covering her mouth and curling into a corner against the wall as tears streamed down her cheeks and she struggled to breath when her nose began to run and block. Her body was shivering uncontrollably and she clung to herself shaking as she tried not to vomit when her stomach twisted and her chest tightened.

Roger shut the door of the boiler closet and twisted behind it, gasping and half wishing he could cry because instead all he felt was tight burning building in the back of his throat. His eyes itched and he had soiled himself making his trousers stiff and uncomfortable as he was forced to stand still even though he was already getting pins and needles and wanted nothing more than to keep moving. As it was he found himself twisting and twitching on the spot begging for Edilio's safety.

And finally Edilio kept running to another garden where he found himself pushing against the wall of the back garden because he wanted to make sure there was plenty of space for him to run if he was caught. He was also crying sniffing and shivering as he struggled to get his breath back and resist the urge to cough even though there was an constant scratching that was driving him crazy.

Little Pete shrieked and the orbs all drifted into different directions, searching for them all and getting dangerously close.

_"Do you think, if there was any other way, I would want you to kill me? Do you think if people could, they wouldn't sell their souls to live for just one more day? They would give anything not to have to be scared of death..."_

**G*O*N*E**

_"I don't think this will work. That's the worst part!" _

Gaia had destroyed the phone when she threw him against the wall. He dropped it and fell down beside of it moments afterwards in a painful heap. It felt like everything was broken and Sam struggled onto his feet, whimpering as he reached for the phone but it was dead and broken. He had no time to worry over the hydra because he had to worry for his own life and Gaia first. He was too busy worrying over Gaia killing him now to even think twice about Drake again.

Sam stood and lifted his hands. The light just left his palms when he was thrown across the room into a nearby shop with so much force it broke his arm with a clean snap. Sam screamed and nearby children that Astrid were leading to safety screamed with him. Astrid shushed them and pushed them towards the staircase, watching them run to safety before she went to the next shop to get the next people. Luckily no one left until Astrid got there to lead them away so it wasn't chaos like before.

She wished she could help Sam. She wished she could save him but if she went over all she would do would be to get in the way and then all these people would suffer for it. But still, she found herself being reckless and hurrying faster than she should in order to get them all out so she could at least try and do something to help him.

_"The worst part of this all is that I know it will work but I said think because part of me is still hoping Sam the Big Hero Man is going to come running with another answer."_

Sam was lifted into the air and slammed against the glass hard, cracking it but not quite breaking yet. Gaia chuckled a blood thirsty baby laugh and he was slammed twice more before the glass shattered and Sam was thrown into the men clothing store. A young boy lay with his father both cried when Sam fell by their side by their hiding place in between the blazers. They scrambled onto their feet and ran for the door away from him. Sam gasped and quickly stood, firing beams of light to make sure Gaia didn't follow them. Unfortunately she pulled the young boy from his father and Sam accidentally burned the boys ankle as he was used as a human shield much like Astrid had been before.

"Coward!" Sam snapped, struggling to stand and face the girl. "Let him go!"

The boy cried and his ankle bled from the burn onto the floor while his father hovered by the door, wanting to help but a part of him actually seemed to be considering ditching his son to save his own life.

Sam snarled and ran forward. He ran straight at the boy, grabbing him in a hug and throwing a beam of light over his shoulder at Gaia. She let him go to avoid the blast and Sam was able to throw the boy at his father before running over the glass right at her again. Everything hurt but anger burned away the pain and he roared while trying to aim and burn her. As soon as everyone else was to safety he could be reckless but until then he had to be ridiculously careful.

_"Sam is the big hero that always has to save everyone."_

Gaia took advantage of this finally and turned to where two teenage girls crouched behind of a phone stall. She laughed and lifted both girls into the air. Sam shouted for them but it was pointless. He couldn't get them down and if he attacked Gaia she would let them drop.

"PLEASE!|" The girls shrieked. "Please help us!"

Sam winced. He wanted to help them! He wanted to help them but he couldn't! Sam hated himself as he pointed his hands at Gaia and fired. Both girls dropped suddenly. One hit the ground hard with a crack before she fell still and silent, the other hit the ground just as hard but lay there sobbing and begging for help but unable to move where her legs were twisted.

_"Only the problem is he can never seem to actually save anyone!"_

Sam shouted and ran at Gaia while Astrid ducked back and tried to help drag the alive teenager towards the stairs. Thankfully a mother sent her children out with her older son and hurried to help carry the injured girl to safety.

Soon people were all coming out and helping one another. The dead girl was carried out on the slightly hint of a possibility that she might still be alive...

_"He can't save me and I think that sucks! I hate how some people are saved but others die."_

Sam shot lights at Gaia and sent her into an empty store Astrid had already evacuated. She went through the glass and he immediately chased after her. He fired again and again until she was pressed against the solid wall, cracking the cement under the pressure but the whole time she didn't stop laughing.

Astrid ran over towards another store and began to call people out.

"Move! Quickly! Stay together! Help those that fall!" Astrid demanded, taking a woman's hand and leading her along.

_"Who decides who lives and who dies? Who decides who gets saved? I don't know."_

Sam fired at Gaia again and again. His anger burned and he fired repeated, only giving her time in between so that she knew when she was being attacked. He wanted to hurt her for what she had done. For those children bellow! For those families! For those innocent people!

Gaia laughed and suddenly Sam was throwing out of the shop, across the mall and into the shop opposite, through the open doors and smacking into a bookshelf. It topped back and hit the ground and began to slide down into the large hole that Sam had made early to fall on Gaia. It was larger than he remembered and Sam scrambled to grab on. The bookcase he sat on slipped through the hole but he managed to hold to the side of the floor that hadn't yet crumbled. Sam gasped and shouted as he dragged himself up out of the hole but then Gaia was on him again.

"Die die now." She said waving.

"Bitch!" Sam roared and tried to fire up at her with one hand.

"DIE!" Gaia lifted a burning hand when one of the innocent bystanders tackled her away from him. It was elderly man that looked like the kind of man to need a cane to walk down the street and a chair to help him up the stairs. Yet he tackled her away and quickly crawled back to take Sam's hand and pull him up.

"Thanks." Sam gasped.

_"I wish I knew because then I would argue my case but I don't."_

The elder man turned as Gaia glared at him. She moved and Sam stepped in the way, protecting him as he lifted his hands and fired again.

_"I know this will work."_

"What is that thing?" The man asked, sounding nervous.

"It's a long story! You have to get out!" Sam shouted, pushing Gaia away with his light.

_"I know once order is restored to the universe these things will leave."_

"What about you?" The man blinked. Obviously Sam could handle himself but the man still didn't seem happy to just leave him.

"Help my friend!" Sam gasped. "We have to get the rest of these people out of here!"

"Okay, son, be careful!"

The man ran around Gaia while distracted and over to where Astrid was pulling people out of the way of a shop that looked ready to collapse in on them from damages.

Gaia sneered and lunged for Sam again.

_"And I hate it because you're right it isn't fair! I don't want to die! I don't want to leave you! I want to stay and live my life and it's not fair!"_

**G*O*N*E**

_"But I worked this out seconds after my dream. That's why I had to run out and get some air after you had all gone. Because I knew and it killed me."_

Taylor seemed to be refusing to leave Lana behind. Instead she stood by her side in silence and they waited for the Sekhmet to come down the last of the stairs and face them once more.

_"I mean. I am so sick of standing and fighting all the time."_

Lana was reminded of when she fought the darkness that time in the cave, how she refused to back down until it was killed even if it meant taking herself down with it. She ever planned to collapse the cave like she was now planning to collapse the building. But that didn't come out too well for her and she had decided to do it for different reasons. That was to stop its hold on her. Now was because she was just sick of running from everything that insisted on ruining her home and killing her friends.

_"So many people spend so much time fighting and even when they have done their bit, people still ask more of them. I am sick of people asking more of me to fight and I am sure many other people are too..."_

"You can go, if you want." Lana whispered to Taylor.

Taylor just shrugged like she hadn't yet made up her mind.

"Okay then. Just so we're clear."

_"I mean when are we free?! When can we stop?!"_

The Sekhmet appeared and made its way towards of them, smirking. Lana swallowed and took a firework, lighting it and throwing it at her but she easily knocked it to the side and the firework went off against the wall, setting more of the building alight. Maybe that was how they were going to kill it. Burn it down with the rest of the building.

_"But even tired I didn't want to accept that I had to die again."_

"Light them all!" Lana snapped at Taylor. "Light them all and throw them all!"

Taylor did as told. She light each of the fireworks, lifting them into the air and throwing them towards of the Sekhmet. She knocked a few away but most of them landed at her feet and Lana covered her face as they all went off. She felt a burn along her arm and knew one of the flames had come her way but she didn't care. When she glanced around the smoke Taylor was gone.

Lana looked forward and suddenly the Sekhmet was in front of her. She shrieked and it grabbed her arm, dragging her away from the door and throwing her down onto the ground. It towered over and prepared to finished what she had started.

_"But it has to happen. I hate it and I feel sick and I curse God but if I want you to be safe then this has to happen."_

**G*O*N*E**

_"And you know I do this for you. I don't do this for anyone else, even me."_

Connie shivered and looked up but instead of a ceiling crushing her body she saw an open sky with clouds and even the sun above her. She looked around and realised they were lying in the garden of her own home. Just ahead of her was the crushed remains of the house she had been in just moments before. She glanced over and saw Emily standing, arms pointed out, shivering but still there. Derek was covering his head and crying before he realised there was a breeze and he was still alive when he finally lifted his own head.

"What... What the hell just happened?" Derek sobbed.

"I... Saved... Your... Life... AGAIN!" Emily laughed and then fainted, falling to the floor.

"EMILY!" Connie gasped and crawled over to her while Derek dragged himself to his sister. They were both alive and okay just exhausted and injured. It was a miracle Derek had held on for so long. "We have to get them out of here."

"_I just do this for you and I ask you because I trust you and as crazy as it sounds I need you to be the one to finish me off."_

"Where?" Derek moaned.

"Anywhere! We have to move! If he heard us then he can smell us. Grab your sister and just try and get her back to the house." Connie grabbed Emily as best as she could and moved towards the crumbled building.

Derek moaned but began to drag himself and Jill back towards the house. He had no idea what it was Connie was planning but he followed her anyway.

As soon as they were close, Connie began to hide Emily under the broke bricks and wood, rearranging them all to cover her small body. "The smell should be covered with dust and he'll think were inside. Do it for Jill and yourself."

Derek did as told, covering his body and hiding himself and Emily under the remains of the house. It was warm without crushing them like if they had actually been inside and difficult to breath without taking in smoke and needing to cough so Derek gently cupped Jill's mouth and nose and held his own breath. He had just finished covering himself when he heard the noise of the fox walking on the broken house and jumping onto the garden barely meters away from them.

It growled and turned its head, listening for them. It must have heard them again but wasn't sure and began to sniff the area. Derek looked up at Connie. He could just about see her from the light getting through gaps to show her face, tense and worried. She hugged Emily and held still, Derek copied her and swallowed hard.

"_I feel right if you finish me off..."_

The fox turned and seemed to be walking away...

"Uh... Derek... Get off me..." Jill moaned, horrible loud in the eerie silence.

"No!" Derek hissed covering her mouth firmly but that just made her cough loudly.

The growl told him it was too late, the fox was back, growling and preparing to send another sonic wave that would surely finish them this time.

"I love you, Jilly." Derek sobbed, burying his face in the dirt and shaking in fear.

Even Connie seemed to frozen to do anything for a moment as the fox got itself ready. She held onto Emily and looked around. She wished she had made things up to Sam before now...

_"I don't want to feel like I have left things undone."_

"Stay here." Connie hissed and crawled out. She opened her arms to the fox, then turned and ran. He took the bait, snarling before he turned and chased her, leaving Derek, Jill and Emily safe but giving herself up in the process.

_"Because I really do love you Diana. I act crazy sometimes and I want power but above all of that I want you... I love you and I will die for you, twice!"_

**G*O*N*E**

"I love you. Please do this for me." Caine whispered.

He held out the knife again and Diana openly sobbed. She shook her head and covered her ears, trying to block it out. She just wanted to stop time and think, she wanted to have a moment to think. This wasn't fair! She just got him! She needed to think.

"Diana... We don't have time." Caine mumbled, taking her hand.

She expected him to put the knife into her hand instead he pulled her against him and kissed her a final time. This time she wrapped her arms around him and kissed back like she would never get a chance again. She sobbed and kissed him again, clutching his face in her hands and hating him. She hated and loved him. That was the way it was meant to be.

"Please..." Caine begged. "Do this for me, Diana."

"I don't know if I could live with myself if I do this." Diana cried, turning and burying into his shoulder.

"You will. You're tough." Caine chuckled. "That's part of why I love you so much."

Diana sobbed and clung to him, kissing him again and wishing they could make love just once more before she had to do this. Finally she pulled back, kissed him again.

Dekka let out a shriek and it was almost like she could hear similar screams from everyone else. She could almost hear the screams from Anna as the orbs found her and began to drag her out to Little Pete's mercy while Edilio ran to save her and Roger cried for Edilio to help when orbs found him too. She could hear Lana screaming as the Sekhmet wrapped her hands around her throat and began to choke her to finish the job she had started. The screams from Sam as his leg was broken and the children screamed as Gaia finally turned and moved to find them all off along with Astrid while Sam lay defenseless at her feet. And finally the screams from Connie as the fox hit her hard and sent he scrapping along the ground.

"I love you." Diana cried.

"Love you to." Caine smiled and kissed her as she took the knife in hand.

Diana held the kiss as she brought the knife around and, before Caine had time to show any signs of fear that would immediately keep her from doing the job, she stabbed him in the chest. Diana sobbed as she stabbed Caine and dropped to the floor in tears while his body dropped with her, already disappearing into similar ash and oil they had seen before.

Diana opened her mouth, covering her face and screaming as loud as she could until her throat burned. She screamed and cried, collapsing as every part of her body broke at once... But the worst pain was in her chest. The worst pain was in her heart.

* * *

**45) WHO WAS EXPECTING THAT?!**


	28. Chapter 28

The orbs vanished into thin air as Anna was being dragged towards of Little Pete in the middle of the street by her clothes and her hair. She collapsed onto the road in a sudden heap and gasped, scrambling onto her hands and knees to turn and see where Little Pete had been but he was gone too. No ash, no oil, no blood, no nothing. He was just gone. Edilio, who had been running her way trying to save her after he heard her screams, had come to a sudden stop as the creature and orbs blinked out in the exact same way that all the adults had.

Edilio hesitated for a moment as his mind began to work out what he had just seen, then he forced his feet to hurry over to Anna, grabbing her hands and helping her back onto her feet. He helped brush her down from where she had been dragged through the dirt as gently as he could, holding her hand. Her knees were bleeding and her elbows and hands were red and scraped raw with little white flakes of skin just barely clinging on. She was shaking, pale and still sobbing loudly at nothing. Edilio hugged her tightly, rubbing her back and waiting a moment before he pulled back and looked at her.

"I have to find Roger." Edilio said to her, hearing the tremors in his own voice but ignoring them. "Once I've found him we'll all get out of here, I promise."

"Okay." Anna sobbed and sat down on the side, weeping. She seemed to have just given up. He didn't want to leave her like this but he needed to find Roger!

Turning he ran in the last direction he saw Roger go to before they were all split apart and began to call his name aloud. He somehow didn't feel worried, sure that they were safe now that Little Pete had vanished. A part of him vaguely wondered if he was just making himself invisible with some unknown power but the rest of Edilio was sure he was gone. Instinct told him he was gone.

It didn't take long for Roger to hear him shouting his name considering how quiet the whole street was. At first he rushed with his heart skipping beats, slamming open the door thinking Edilio was in danger, but then as he left the house he didn't hear panic, just a bit of fear which was understandable after everything that had happened to them. Roger hurried down, shivering and embarrassed that he had wet himself but still not caring as he needed to see Edilio was okay first.

"Edilio!" He called when he saw him running towards the house from the opposite end of the street.

The two collided into a hug and clung to one another for a moment, panting and shaking but alive. Being alive was all that mattered.

"Are you okay?" Edilio croaked.

"Yeah, what happened? Where's the bird? Is Anna okay?" Roger asked quickly.

"We're not really sure but the birds gone. Anna's okay, she was almost caught when the bird and his orb things disappeared like when adults or a fifteen year old did back in the FAYZ." Edilio explained.

"What? Why?" Roger gasped.

"No idea. Let's get back to Anna. She's pretty terrified." Edilio said taking his arm and leading him back to where Anna still sat crying on the ground.

"Anna..." Roger said and sat down beside her, hugging her. Edilio sat down on the other side and put his arm over her shoulders.

They sat there for a long time, just comforting one another. Edilio and Roger had somehow got themselves back together but Anna hadn't been in the FAYZ long enough to see real horrific monsters and have her life risked on a daily basis like they were. She was a lot more new to this than they were and it took her a few minutes before she calmed down long enough for them both to pick her up and half carry her from the streets.

They had no idea where everyone else was. Sam's phone wouldn't work and no one else was answering. And even if they did find them, what if they were still fighting mutated animals? They would have no idea how to help them while so injured. So instead they began to head back to the apartment, ignoring pointed looks from those that noticed Anna sobbing between them.

The three of them were stopped once by a group of angry men who seemed to think Roger and Edilio were kidnapping her. It took ten minutes of Anna assuring them they weren't while still in tears. Luckily they seemed to buy the excuse Edilio gave about her brother dying and how she had just found out. They claimed they needed to get her back to her parents and hurried her along, trying to be quick and comforting at the same time the whole way back.

For the entire walk they all wondered the same question. What happened to the mutated animal version of Little Pete?

**G*O*N*E**

Astrid, Sam and most of the innocent people that were still making a break for the exit, were all watching Gaia approach, screaming and rushing away in fear. Most of them just ran, not wanting to look back but a few somehow managed to move while never taking their eyes off of her when she blinked out. There were quite a few people still hiding in various places where Astrid hadn't gotten too yet that also kept their eyes on her when she vanished. Sam forced himself to sit up and shouted at Astrid to look out when Gaia vanished in a blink before his eyes. He had noticed but it didn't register at first and he kept shouting for a second longer than he needed to. When he realised she was gone he looked around in case it was a trick she was pulling to attack them. While Astrid and the a few other people had also screamed but their screams had cut off dead when Gaia disappeared and they also looked around as if trying to find where she had vanished too. _  
_

Finally Astrid told them to leave now and ran over to Sam's side where he was struggling to stand on his feet with one broken leg. The bystanders wasted no time and ran for the doors once more, hurrying down the stairs and out the doors where many other people were still waiting for them. Astrid wrapped her arms around Sam gently, hugging him and kissing his cheek in pure relief before she focused on what was happening. They needed to get him out of here... She began to maneuver him where the other people were leaving slowly. Now that she was gone everyone was running for the exit again, taking the chance without Gaia to all make a break for the exit and to safety. Astrid hesitated, wanting to get Sam out before anything else happened or before Gaia came back but if she tried to pull him so badly injured through a crowd so angry like they were then it could only make things worse for him.

"Astrid... What happened... Where did she go?" Sam gasped, still looking around for Gaia to come back.

"I don't know." Astrid gasped, shivering. "She vanished. Can she teleport? Why would she teleport, I thought she was going to attack me."

"So did I..." Sam frowned.

"We need to get out of here while we can." Astrid hissed, she glanced over and pulled Sam to the nearest elevator. No one was using them for obvious reasons but it didn't look broken and it seemed to be the easy way to get Sam downstairs and out the door.

It was sticky with blue floors and walls and bright lights. They stepped inside and Astrid pressed the button, waiting for the silver doors to close and tried not to shift so much at the horrible sounds under her soles. It felt like someone had dropped gum and movie coke all on the floor and no on had bothered to clean it up. When it dropped to the lower level Astrid began to pull Sam from the lift. He moved quickly enough but the more time passed the more anger and tension left him so he recognized the pain in his body again.

He could easily ignore his broken arm which lay limp by his side even when forced to sway occasionally but his broken leg was forced to take a constant step when he couldn't hop along clinging to Astrid. And then there were the many cuts from going through glass, bruises from being thrown around and stomped on, and the tiredness told him he had some kind of a concussion.

"Come on, we need to get you to a hospital." Astrid gasped.

"There are ambulances outside." A voice came.

They both jumped and looked up to see the elder man again. He was shivering and his voice was rough, but he was still going and carefully began to help Sam along outside with the rest of the people.

"Thank you..." Sam nodded.

"No problem, let's just get you out of here. There are ambulances outside, someone called them and the police so they'll definitely look at you." The man explained.

Luckily, because Sam was slowing them down, by the time they got out the people had thinned and they were among the lasts.

"Over here." The man said, taking Sam to one of the many ambulances that had been called.

Outside they couldn't see much farther because of the large crowd and vehicles that blocked their view and they could barely hear each other over the talking, screaming, crying and sirens that echoed throughout the air.

Suddenly a set of people rushed over and grabbed Astrid and Sam. They were obviously gentle and careful but still their hands hurt against the bruises and they were in such a rush they couldn't help but be pushy. They pulled the two of them towards the nearest ambulance to check them over. Astrid shouted and tried to reach for Sam but they took him away from her reach. Sam lashed out at the men around him and tried to get up when they forced him down again. He looked and saw quite a few people were seriously injured but not nearly as many as Sam worried there might be. Some of them missed limbs, others just burned and hurt with broken limbs and bruises from being stomped on like Astrid. The worst were bandaged up now or were being put into separate vehicles that were no doubt taking them back to the hospitals.

Sam caught one last glimpse of Astrid managing to get up and run over to him before the concussion won - or maybe they had given him a shot of some kind - and he slipped under into darkness.

**G*O*NE**

Her vision just darkened when the Sekhmet vanished along with her hold. One moment she felt her hand tighten firmly around her throat and the next she was free and could breath again. She gasped and every breath hurt and burned like she was swallowing the fire around her. Lana rolled onto her stomach, coughing and shivering. She focused on breathing while part of her mind wondered what happened to the Sekhmet. _  
_

Had it found something else interesting? Did it think Lana was dead? Had Taylor or someone else come in and saved her?

She pushed herself up and looked around but it was hard to see through the fire and the smoke that surrounded her, and she was still trying to breath. She squinted but it didn't look like there was anyone else in the room with her. She coughed and gasped, breathing slowly to calm herself and began to crawl towards the doorway, trying not to breath in anymore of the smoke but still needed to gasp. She could see the light shining from the outside and swallowed back a nasty tinge in her mouth when she breathed in the smoke while choking. Lana hit a dead body, Ben's? Or someone else? She didn't know and at the moment she couldn't bring herself to care.

Lana crawled over and around three bodies before she reached the door, still coughing and shivering from the horrible smoke taste that filled her mouth and her nose. Her arms hurt from burn marks where the fireworks had scratched up her arm and peeled back some of her skin. It all hurt, her throat, her stomach, her head, her neck and her arms. Even her knees from where she was crawling across the hard floor hurt.

When she finally reached the door she felt her mind growing crowded and she thought she might collapse seconds before entering the fresh air. She pushed open the door only an inch with her head, slipping like that was as far as she was going to get when the door opened and a golden Taylor appeared, reaching down and grabbing her hand pulling her out of the building. She turned and threw Lana down onto the ground where she coughed and gasped for clean fresh breaths of air. Outside a pair of police officers who had been keeping an eye on the building saw them and immediately rushed over seconds before Taylor vanished again.

The officers had to keep watch because no one could go in and they had no idea why or what was going on. They were seconds away from calling the army today when Lana fell to the ground pulled by a strange golden girl. The officers quickly called for an ambulance and began to help her breath as best as they could.

Lana glanced over at the building, steadily burning, and back over to where Taylor had been. But she had already left.

**G*O*N*E**

The pain in Connie's body was excruciating and she couldn't bring herself to move for a few moments before she realised that the fox was not attacking her again. Her fear slipped back just enough for her to realize this and force her body to do as it was told. Somehow she managed to twist her body around onto her side and looked back to where the fox had been a few moments early but it was not there. Derek had stuck his head out from under the building to watch but only after the fox had disappeared and froze, wondering if the fox was now watching him somewhere and waiting to attack. _  
_

"Where'd it go?" Connie gasped, forcing herself up despite the pain. She didn't know if she was asking herself or trying to ask Derek.

Derek didn't hear her anyway, he was frozen too far away, waiting for the next attack to come. They waited, all of them in pure silence for the next ten long minutes before Jill finally grew tired of being quiet and began to moan loudly in pain again. Something was definitely broken and she wanted to move and stretch back into place that would make the pain stop. Derek tensed but even with Jill shouting the fox didn't come for them again. Finally Connie stood, limping and wincing from the pain and making her way back over to them.

"What happened?" Derek asked, pulling Jill out of the rubble and ignoring her sobs of pain because he knew there was nothing he could do for her but get her out from under a broken house.

"I don't know..." Connie whispered, getting Emily. "We need to call an ambulance."

Derek nodded, still watching for the fox but they were alone now. He reached down and hugged his sister, whispering to her that it would be okay. They were safe, for now.

**G*O*N*E**

Diana cried even after Dekka came to find her. Dekka had been flattening the hydra when it had disappeared, she had been lifting a car in the air to drop it on his head in hopes to confuse it but when the hydra disappeared so did her powers and the car dropped to the ground, almost hitting her. She somehow managed to jump to the side and landed hard on the ground, scratching her elbow and smacking her head on the sidewalk. The car hit the ground and broke apart, snapping at the force of the fall. A part of the metal door missed Dekka's head by inches and she lay frozen for a few moments until she was sure that nothing else was going to come flying her way.

She shivered and stood up, looking around as if the hydra might come back but at the same time she knew it wouldn't. The way it had blinked out was too similar. Dekka knew blinking out was a one way permanent ride, no return tickets. Still she was nervous and stood in silence, listening to the sound of a weak car alarm before it finally faded, there were still screams from far off and the sound of a police siren was echoing through the air but other than that there were no inhuman roars from a crazy monster. And then Dekka heard something else coming from much closer than the sirens or the screaming.

Turning around she walked towards the building where Diana and Caine had vanished into just a few moments before. She walked slowly at first, as if in a dream world or still in shock from what happened but then the sirens began to penetrate. They were coming closer to this spot where the hydra had been last and she knew they had to get out of here. That was when she broke into a run. At first she couldn't find them because Diana was hidden in the living room behind the door out of sight but when she did Dekka froze mid step.

Diana was curled up into a ball on the floor, hunched over with her face against the wooden floorboards, hands clenched into fists and knees pulled in tight. Her hair covered the most of her face but Dekka didn't need to see her. She could hear the screams ripping through her throat and the sobs that broke through occasionally as she gasped to breath in between them. Dekka hesitated and took a step towards of her but then stopped when she stepped into something sticky on the ground. Looking down she blinked to see the same oil ash that was still staining her face and the inside of her mouth.

"What the..." Dekka whispered and looked around but Caine was nowhere to be seen.

Diana sobbed loudly and her fists slammed against the ground, banging hard enough to leave bloody bruises all along her knuckles. She screamed loud enough that Dekka jumped and momentarily forgot about the police sirens heading their way. Ducking down onto the ground by her side, Dekka slowly reached to touch her shoulder.

"Diana, what happened?" Dekka asked, having to raise her voice to be heard over her screaming.

She screamed and sobbed in response, finally lifting her head to bury it in Dekka's shoulder and wrap her arms around her. Dekka blinked, not knowing what to do. After a moment she awkwardly put her arms around her. Diana didn't care who it was, she just needed to cry into someone and have them hold her for a moment. Of course Dekka wasn't a hugging type and after a few uncomfortable pats on the back she ran out of ideas on what she was supposed to do for her. They were very different people. Dekka's saddest moment was when Brianna died and all Dekka wanted was to be left alone...

When Brianna died...

Her saddest moment was when the one she loved died...

"Where's Caine?" Dekka whispered. When Diana didn't hear her she repeated it louder. "Diana, where is Caine?!"

The shrieking sobs confirmed it.

"Did an animal attack him?" Dekka asked, looking over at the oil and ash. "Did an animal kill him, Diana?"

She cried in response. Dekka sighed, trying to think of another way when the sirens kicked back in only this time they were close... They were right outside.

"Shit! Diana! We have to go!" Dekka hissed, standing and pulling a heavy Diana up onto her feet.

Diana sobbed and swayed on her feet. She didn't run even when Dekka tried to drag her away from the window where the police cars were now visible. There were at least four that she could see of and half a dozen officers who were all looking annoyed and confused as they paced outside. Dekka grit her teeth and pulled Diana hard, dragging her away from the window, through the ash and oil puddle which seemed to just make her sob even louder but thankfully her cries were drowned out by the sirens still blaring outside.

After a moment of pulling Dekka managed to get Diana out the bathroom and stumbling through the garden. Somehow Diana seemed to come to her senses long enough to climb over a fence and run down the street before she had to collapse against a wall again. She had stopped screaming now but the sobs still came and so did sharp breath as she struggled to breath. It was frightening listening to her wheeze and gasp like that and Dekka stepped up beside her, wishing she could help but instead watched in silence until Diana had it under control.

"What happened, Diana?" Dekka demanded.

Diana sobbed in response.

"Diana!" Dekka snapped, grabbing her by the shoulders. "What happened?! What happened to Caine?!"

"He... He..." Diana sobbed, looking at Dekka. "He... He's the reason... All this happened so-so-so he asked me to... to... T-to kill him." She collapsed to the ground once more.

Dekka stared at her, unable to think of anything to say. Finally she reached, hooking her arm through Diana's and leading her back towards the apartment. They would get the rest of the answers when Diana had calmed down and when everyone was back together again.

* * *

**46) How do you think you guys would do in the FAYZ and in this little after-FAYZ story?  
**

**One more chapter, then it is done!**


	29. Chapter 29

The next day everyone was back at the apartment together. Sam had thick casts around his arm and leg, as well as bruises that made him look like a domestic abuse victim that ached every time he moved. Astrid wasn't much better and it had taken a lot of work to convince the hospital staff to let them go and even then it was after they had gotten a more understanding nurse to look the other way while they signed some papers and left quickly to meet back with the others.

Edilio had taken Anna home. She was not very well and they wanted to avoid Emma in case she blamed them for her sister shaking and probably having nightmares for the next six months of her life. Roger was embarrassed by what happened with him during the fight and quiet but at least he hadn't vanished on them.

Dekka and Diana were both quiet as well. In fact they were pure silent and even a day later Diana was shivering and pale with red puffy eyes like she had been crying all night. In fact Dekka looked the most normal, same as always and quiet as always.

But the biggest shock was when Emily came back after getting a ride from Connie. Connie hadn't come in. Sam had stood by the window and watched her but instead she seemed to give up and left while Emily struggled up the stairs on her own. She was greeted with cheers and a surprising hug from Dekka who grinned at her, glad to see she was up and walking again.

"I'm just glad you're alive." Dekka sighed, stretching out.

"So am I. Especially after I saved two kids when a psychotic fox came running after them, oh and your mother, Sam." Emily grinned.

"What?" Sam blinked.

After they were all back they had pushed the mattresses together, changed into comfortable baggy clothes, some night clothes, some just large shirts and settled down with thick blankets covering them either in twos or individuals all to stay warm. Astrid had paused on the way home and brought as much chocolate as she could for them all to eat but most of them were too sick to eat something so sweet.

It was dark and they were all cold despite being wrapped up warm, the chocolate sat on a plate and Astrid occasionally took a piece to let melt in her mouth. She was starting to feel sick but she couldn't bring herself to stop eating. She just needed to do something with her hands and her mouth to stay busy.

One by one they each told the story of what happened to them while they were out fighting. Quinn was the only one without a story to tell since he had spent his time looking for Caine in the streets and happened across non of the mutated animals.

Sam told them how they fought Gaia in the mall, how strong she was and how she disappeared right before killing Astrid and all the other people. He didn't go into detail about his injuries he received while fighting her but they got the basics when they just looked at him. After that Edilio told them about running into the Little Pete version animal. He was careful, watching Astrid in case she reacted badly and while she tensed, she didn't actually react other than that. He explained why Anna was no longer with them and they all understood without much pressure. Afterwards Emily excitedly told them all about fighting the fox with Derek, Jill and Connie. It was one of the first time she really sounded thrilled about something. Of course they had been taken to hospital afterwards but somehow Emily had managed to sneak out with Connie to come back here, though she still winced and looked like her stomach was causing her pain.

And then it was Dekka and Diana's turn to tell their story. Dekka quickly explained what she knew but when she was done every eye turned back onto Diana.

Diana stared at the pile of chocolate and said nothing for a moment. It seemed like she was just going to refuse to tell them anything. But then she lifted her head. Dekka expected to see more tears but her face was stone hard and she almost glared at them.

Old Diana was back.

"Caine... He caused this. He didn't mean to but he did. The animals all came because Little Pete gave him another chance to live only he wasn't supposed to have that chance. So when he figured out we wouldn't be able to beat the hydra he took me into a private room and asked me to kill him. He... He wanted it to be me because he knew he couldn't do it himself and he needed his last moment to be with me alone." Diana explained. "He begged me to so I did. And afterwards he turned into the remains that the animals normally became. End of story."

They all fell silent. Diana looked back down at the food and shook her head like she was sick of it, standing up and heading to her room. She shut the door behind her loudly and the sound echoed throughout room where they all sat. Astrid looked at Sam who stared at the food, not sure what he was thinking. It was hard to believe but at the same time he wasn't really shocked.

"He saved everyone." Sam said finally.

"Twice." Edilio nodded.

"What now?" Astrid whispered after more silence.

Sam looked at them and smiled, suddenly feeling like crying but not for Caine or even Kevin... For them. They had all survived the FAYZ twice now.

"We go back to normal." Sam stood. "Stay one more night. We'll all sleep in here."

No one argued. Instead they all found a spot on the mattresses, curling up on the ground, most of them finding someone to huddle with on the floor. None of them went to sleep very quickly but eventually one by one, they all drifted off and only woke early the next morning by the sound of Diana slamming the door behind her.

***G*O*N*E**

Dekka and Emily said goodbye to Sam, Astrid, Edilio, Roger and Quinn the next morning when they brought tickets and waited for the coach to come and pick them up.

The coach drove up to the small building where they were waiting for it. Emily jumped up, grabbing her back and glancing back at the small group as Dekka said a warm goodbye to them. It was weird. They were still just strangers to her but somehow she knew she could trust them if they time came. Especially Dekka. Emily wondered if she would stay friends with them like the had promise on the ride here. She doubted it. At least when it came to Astrid, Sam, Edilio, Roger and Quinn but Emily might consider staying friends with Dekka. She had saved her life, after all. Who knew, only time would tell.

Her phone began to vibrate loudly in her pocket, when she glanced at the screen she saw it was her parents yet again. Emily had sent them a text message that morning to say she was coming home. Ever since then they had tried to repeatedly call her but she ignored every one of their phone calls. They were driving her crazy and when she got home they'd probably start on how she was grounded for having a life... Maybe it was time for Emily to move out.

"Time to go." Emily said to Dekka as their coach began to let people on.

"Come and visit more." Astrid commanded to Dekka. "We need to all meet up, all stay in touch this time for real."

"Promise?" Sam asked.

"Sure." Dekka smiled, rolling her eyes at them.

"Safe trip!" Quinn grinned. "Don't be strangers!"

Dekka smiled at him before she and Emily climbed up onto the coach, finding two seats side by side and staring out the window where they could wave goodbye until they were out of sight.

That afternoon Quinn's mother came to pick him up while Edilio and Roger set out on a walk together. They once again had a long goodbye before everyone was gone and it was just Sam and Astrid again in the apartment.

"Do you think Diana is going to be okay?" Astrid asked as they began to clear up the furniture and put everything back into its place.

"I hope so." Sam mumbled.

He smiled as he found he was already missing all the company of his friends that had just gone home.

"This must be so hard for her." Astrid grumbled, slipping down to sit on the floor.

"Yeah... But she's tough." Sam nodded.

"That's right. I am."

They both jumped and looked up at the doorway where Diana was standing, fully dressed with a cold emotionless face. She was wearing all black and her hair was pulled back into a tight pony tail so that not even a strand fell down in front of her face. Diana walked into the room and over towards the kitchen where she quickly made herself a strong coffee.

"So... You're okay, Diana?" Astrid asked nervously.

"I'm fine." Diana said.

"If you want to talk-" Sam began.

"I don't."

Sam and Astrid stared up at her but Sam chose to leave her alone. She just needed some time to herself. It was like after she had first moved in when Caine had died the first time. She avoided talking, spoke in short sentences, mostly either went for long walks or stayed in her room doing things in private. Eventually time would heal the pain.

"Did you go for a walk?" Astrid forced herself to ask. She knew the routine but she wanted to help some way. She ignored the pointed look Sam gave her.

"Yes."

"Um... Where about?" Astrid tried.

"Around."

Astrid glanced at Sam and gave up. They finished moving the rest of the furniture back into its original place and found a seat, and turned on the television.

The screen was on for only a few seconds before they saw the after effects of all the animals. There was one case where they had been recording a group of friends before one of the friends began screaming just as a bat landed beside of them and then, seconds before one of the friends killed the other, the bat disappeared and the boy was returned to normal. There were other reports where animals had been said to vanish in front of people and strange disasters all over the world had stopped.

"Thank God it's over." Astrid sighed, turning and leaning her head on Sam's shoulder.

"It's not over." Diana sneered. "It's only just begun. For us, it will never be over. There will always be a new phase around the corner..." She stopped and smirked sadly. "A new FAYZ around every corner."

**G*O*N*E**

Lilly laughed in such a delighted high pitched voice that Astrid couldn't help but join her. Sam grinned as well and leaned over pulling a silly face until the pink faced girl kicked her legs in the air above her and squealed even louder at the two of them. From the kitchen Diana smiled and finished warming the milk. She walked over and picked Lilly up from the ground, settling back on the chair to feed her.

Astrid moved up to sit beside her, still grinning to Lilly who laughed until she began to drink. It was hard not to look at her round chubby cheeked face girl without smiling like an idiot. Barely a few months after finding out the sex of Diana's baby, Sam and Astrid had both brought clothes for her. They did it purely on the fact that it was such a normal thing to happen and they needed to celebrate, especially since before she found out she was pregnant again, Diana had been miserable. Somehow knowing she was carrying Caine's baby, and that the baby was going to actually be normal this time gave some of the light back into her eyes. When the baby was born she was practically the old Diana again.

And then there was the fact that Lilly was such a bright little girl that you couldn't be around her without feeling better. At the moment she was dressed in the yellow summer dress that Astrid had brought her before she was born. It was still a little big on her but not by too much and the yellow cotton shoes fit perfectly.

It had been over a year since Caine had come back into their lives and left just as quickly. They had lost contact with Emily completely now. Astrid had tried to call her a few months after everyone had calmed down but she hadn't answered and didn't return the voice mail. Dekka was said to have spoken to her once or twice but even she stopped trying to stay in contact too often. They had however managed to meet with Quinn, Edilio and Roger on more than one occasion although Roger was less frequent as things between him and Edilio had begun to get rocky. A big surprise was when Anna and Astrid found some time to meet with one another during their days off. Dekka came when she could but they mostly called and emailed her to stay in touch.

"Lilly," Sam sang, kneeling beside the girl when she finished her milk. "Lilly, over here..."

The girls bright blue eyes turned and stared at him with a blank look. Sam grinned and pulled another face until she laughed. Diana smiled and leaned back, holding Lilly carefully on her lap. Astrid grinned and leaned back, watching the girl laugh and wave her hands in the air above her.

"Do you ever think this is going to turn bad on us?" Astrid wondered.

"What do you mean?" Diana blinked.

"Well, Caine wasn't meant to be alive. Him being alive was what defied the laws of the universe which was why all the animals showed up the way they did." Astrid explained. "So technically Lilly wasn't meant to happen either. There won't be any consequences, will there?"

Diana turned and took in a long look at her daughter. Finally she smiled and nodded her head. "I don't think so. She's meant to be, I know it."

Astrid and Sam smiled and caught each others eye. Astrid bit the inside of her lip when Sam grinned at her. It was hard not to be around a baby without thinking of what your own children would look like and Astrid wondered how long before Sam brought up his own desires for kids. She paused and wondered if she even wanted her own children...

There was a knock on the door that had them all startle, clearing Astrid of her thoughts before she remembered Quinn, Edilio and a girl that Quinn seemed to have a keen interest in named Cassandra, were coming to have a day out with Astrid and Sam at the beach. They had asked Diana if she wanted to come with Lilly for her first trip to the seaside but Diana declined, promising to go next time. This time she wanted to finish reading Astrid's book.

It was only the first draft but somehow Astrid had finished it, letting Sam and Diana be the first two people to read it.

Sam had somehow gotten his job back too which was nice for them. His boss seemed to like him and after he swore there would be no more interruptions he was back working at the beach stall. Diana had to quit her own job after she was pregnant. She could hardly keep working for her ass of a boss in her condition and hadn't yet found anything else, not while she was looking after Lilly. To make up for it though, in between of writing the book Astrid had taken a job at a nearby library to keep their income coming in.

"Hey, guys." Astrid beamed, opening the door to them. "We'll just be a second."

Quinn happily waved his new license behind them and Sam snorted. Being the first to get, not just a license, but a car as well was something Quinn was extremely proud of.

"Bye, bye, Lilly." Sam cooed. "Bye, bye!"

"Bye," Diana sang, making Lilly wave after him.

"Call us if you need us." Astrid said, grabbing her already packed bag.

"I know the drill." Diana said, rolling her eyes. She lifted Lilly up and settled her into her new pink playpen, turning to wave them goodbye.

As soon as everyone was gone Diana went into her bedroom and began to search for the laptop and Astrid's hard drive that she had been using a few moments earlier. It took her a while to find that as well as the charger and the mouse. But Diana found it hard to get frustrated, especially when she now lived with a baby that cried through the night.

Diana smiled at the thought of Lilly. Her full name was Lilly June Soren. Lilly was just because it was becoming Diana's favourite flower and sounded perfect for a perfect little girl. June because of Diana's grandmother who passed a few years before the FAYZ and Soren because of her father, of course. She was a perfect little girl. And the best part was that she was a completely normal child as well, no mutant monster aliens inside her, not even born inside of a crazy world with crazy powers! She was normal. And perfect.

Meanwhile, inside the living room Lilly began to cry as she stared out at her favourite new teddy that Anna had brought for her shortly after her birth. It settled on the sofa rather than in the play pen with her. She didn't care about the other toys around her she wanted the pink smiling teddy!

"One second, Lilly!" Diana called.

Lilly shouted louder and finally grew impatient enough. She pointed her chubby hand out to the teddy through the bars. It lifted into the air by an invisible force, gently moved around the air, floating towards her and landed in the play pen with Lilly. She squealed and her body moved towards the teddy as if a second invisible force was pushing her, picking it up and wrapping her arms around it in a tight hug.

Diana came back and smiled down at the girl, hugging her bear. It was great having a perfectly normal child.

* * *

**46) So... 1=Terrible, 2=Bad, 3=OK, 4=good, 5=excellent. How many stars was my story? Be honest...  
**


	30. Author Note

**Thank you for all the wonderful reviews you have given my story! I'm actually quite proud of it and so I am especially happy when so many people have told me that they liked it.  
**

**And yes I did leave it like that so it could be open to a sequel. **

**This sequel would be more of a drama rather than action though like the last story, like a friend or family member of Ripley's really wants to get them done for something so they have to protect Lilly from them and in between that relationship and work drama. Anyway! I was curious as to who would read this story if it did it? Let me know and it is a possibility!**

**And once again, thank you!**

**Also, if I do this story then... What would a good title be?**


End file.
